» 


THE     LIFE 


OF 


WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM 


THE  WAR  GOVERNOR  OF  CONNECTICUT 


WITH    A    REVIEW    OF    His    PUBLIC   ACTS,  AND  ESPECIALLY  THE 
DISTINGUISHED  SERVICES    HE  RENDERED  His  COUNTRY 
DURING  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION 


WITH    WHICH    IS    INCORPORATED 


A  CONDENSED   ACCOUNT   OF   THE   MORE   IMPORTANT  CAMPAIGNS 

OF   THE    WAR,  AND   INFORMATION  FROM   PRIVATE   SOURCES 

AND  FAMILY  AND  OFFICIAL  DOCUMENTS. 


BY  REV.  SAMUEL  G.  BUCKINGHAM,  D.D. 


SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

THE    W.    F.    ADAMS    COMPANY,    PUBLISHERS 
1894. 


COPYRIGHTED,  1894. 


CLARK    W.    BRYAN    COMPANY 
PRINTERS,   ELECTROTYPRRS,    BINDERS 
SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 


"  To  tenure  such  high  pul>U<-  interest  a,  the  State  of 
Connecticut  will  hi  ml  her  destinies  more  doxely  t<>  those  of 
the  G-eneral  Government,  ami  in  adopting  the  measures 
su</i/ested,  xhc  will  unreservedly  pledge  all  her  pecuniary 
and  physical  resources  and  all  her  -moral  powers" 


250236 


DEDICATED 
TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  CONNECTICUT 

BY  ONE  OF  HER  SONS 
AS    A    TRIBUTE  TO    ANOTHER. 


CONTENTS. 


THE  BUCKINGHAM  FAMILY, 


GOVERNOR  BUCKINGHAM'S  HOME  AND  TRAINING,  4 

CHAPTER  1. 
THE  COUNTRY  BEFORE  THE  WAR,  -  17 

How  Slavery  was  at  First  Regarded— The  Expectation  that  it  Would  at  Last  Cease 
to  Exist— Agreements  for  Its  Restriction  Broken— The  Missouri  Compromise, 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  Kansas  Question— Birth  of  the  Republican  Party. 

CHAPTER  II. 
MR.  BUCKINGHAM'S  ELECTION  IN  1858,  31 

Financial  and  Social  Troubles  of  the  Time— Events  of  the  Next  Two  Years,  Lead 
ing  to  the  Election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Outbreak  of  the  War — Governor 
Buckingham's  Messages  During  the  Period  and  His  Recognition  of  the  Real 
Situation. 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  NOMINATION  OF  MR.  LINCOLN,  43 

The  Election  in  Connecticut  in  the  Spring  of  1860— Its  Importance  to  the  Nation — 
The  Frauds  by  which  Democratic' Politicians  Sought  to  Carry  the  State— Gover 
nor  Buckingham's  Re-election — Lincoln's  Campaign — His  Acquaintance  with 
Governor  Buckingham  and  Its  Effect— The  Presidential  Election  of  1860. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  SECESSION  MOVEMENT,  63 

Its  Growth  Traced  from  the  Nullification  Days— Breaking  Up  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
Cabinet— His  Own  Partial  Change  of  Opinion— How  and  Why  South  Carolina 
Forced  Secession — Most  of  the  Slave  States  Averse  to  It. 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 
PEACE  CONVENTION,  74 

The  Connecticut  Delegation  in  the  Washington  Convention— Governor  Bucking 
ham's  Letter  of  Instructions— Connecticut's  Proposition  for  a  Convention  on 
Amendment  of  the  Constitution— The  Attitude  of  Virginia  arid  the  Report  in 
Congress. 

CHAPTER   VI. 
MR.  LINCOLN  INAUGURATED,  -  93 

His  Speeches  on  the  Journey  to  Washington,  and  the  Light  they  Throw  on  His 
Character— The  Plot  to  Kill  Him  on  the  Way— The  Inauguration— Mr.  Bu 
chanan's  Character. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE  WAH,  109 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  and  the  Views  Held  by  its  Members  and  by  Him — The  Bom 
bardment  of  Fort  Sumter— The  Purpose  of  South  Carolina  Accomplished. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  UPRISING  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  118 

How  the  News  of  the  Fall  of  Sumter  was  Received  at  the  North— The  Call  for 
75,000  Men— Southern  States,  Not  in  Secession.  Refuse  to  Obev  It— The  Demon 
stration  of  Patriotism  at  the  North — How  Arms  had  been  Traitorously  Secured 
by  the  South. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  IN  CONNECTICUT,  -  128 

Oovernor  Buckingham  Calls  for  Troops  and  Pledges  his  Private  Fortune  to  Equip 
Them — The  People  and  the  Legislature  Respond  with  Equal  Patriotism — Camps 
of  Enlisted  Men  at  Hartford.  New  Haven  and  Norwich— Washington  Cut  Off — 
Governor  Buckingham's  Message  to  the  President  and  How  it  was  Sent  and  Re 
ceived—The  Early  Volunteers— Governor  Buckingham's  Understanding  of  the 
Situation— Count  de  Gasparin's  "  Uprising  of  a  Great  People." 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  SESSION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE,  1861,  154 

The  Outbreak  of  the  War— Governor  Buckingham's  Prompt  and  Vigorous  Support 
of  the  Government — His  Pledge  that  no  State  Should  Furnish  More  or  Better 
Troops— His  Correspondence  with  the  War  Department,  and  Sympathy  with 
Their  Embarrassments— His  Remarkable  Letter  to  the  President  and  Recom 
mendations  in  Regard  to  the  Extra  Session  of  Congress  Just  Called— His  Just 
Estimate  of  the  Conflict  and  Counsel  to  Make  Greater  Preparations  for  It— He 
Binds  the  Destinies  of  the  State  to  Those  of  the  General  Government,  and 
Pledges  all  Her  Resources  to  Sustain  the  Latter—  The  President's  Call  for  More 
Troops  Based  on  the  Application  of  the  Loyal  Governors — And  he  Gets  Them — 
The  Governor  Recommends  that  the  State  Loan  its  Credit  to  the  General 
Government,  Which  is  Done  to  the  Extent  of  Two  Million  of  Dollars— Extra 
Session  of  Congress,  July  4,  18til  —Battle  of  Bull  Run. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XI. 
AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN,  -        -177 

Governor  Buckingham  Authorized  to  Raise  More  Troops— Volunteering  Checked  by 
Distrust  of  the  Conduct  of  the  War  anil  the  Influence  of  the  "Peace  Demo 
crats"— The  Magnificent  Troops  that  Volunteered  in  Spite  of  all  such  Influence 
—Character  and  Destination  of  the  Regiments— The  First  Heavy  Artillery  and 
the  First  Light  Battery. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  YEAR  1862,  -  202 

Review  of  the  Situation  up  to  1862— Progress  of  the  War  in  the  West  and  on 
the  ('oast — Governor  Buckingham's  Re-election— A  Patriotic  Legislature — The 
Peace  Party  in  Connecticut— Demands  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  Move. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  PENINSULAR   CAMPAIGN,  223 

The  Magnificent  Army  of  the  Potomac— Its  Movement  on  Richmond  by  Way  of  the 
Peninsula— The  Ketreat  Across  the  Chickahominy— The  Week  of  Battles— Mal- 
vern  Hill. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FURTHER  CALLS  FOR  VOLUNTEERS,  247 

Two  Requisitions  for  300.000  Men  Each  in  the  Summer  of  1862— Governor  Bucking 
ham's  Proclamation— The  Patriotic.  Response  of  the  Men  of  Connecticut— Mr. 
Lincoln's  Views  as  to  Emancipation— Value  of  the  Slaves — Tho  Emancipation 
Proclamation  Foreshadowed. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION,  1862,   -  256 

The  President's  Decision  in  Regard  to  Emancipation— His  Plan  of  Buying  Off  the 
Northern  Slave  Srates  and  Paying  Them  for  Tbeir  few  Slaves— The  Failure— His 
Correspondence  with  Mr.  Bancroft— Hi*  Decision  to  Issue  such  Proclamation  as 
soon  as  the  Government  Should  Have  Gained  Some  Important  Victory — It  was 
Done  after  the  Battle  of  Antietam. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
A  TURNING  POINT  IN  THE  WAR,  270 

Effect  of  the  Baitles  of  Vicksburg  ard  Gettysburg— New  Development  of  the  Peace 
Party  at  This  Very  Time— The  Draft  Riots— Governor  Buckingham's  Vindica 
tion  for  Lending  Arms  to  K>ep  the  Peace— The  Several  Calls  for  Troops— Con 
necticut's  Record— No  Draft  in  the  Stat-. 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
CONNECTICUT  SOLDIERS,  ._._._  289 

Why  'Many  Officers  were  Chosen  from  Civil  Life— Their  Honorable  Reccrd  iu  the 
Service— The  H'ork  of  Equipping  Enlisted  Raiments— Training  Camps-Gover 
nor  Buckingham's  P  rsonal  Care  tor  Soldiers  in  tne  Field,  and  the  Respect  he 
Paid  to  Men  who  Fought  for  the  Union 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  THANKSGIVING,    -  -        -  -    307 

It  was  Brightened  by  News  from  Chattanooga— Relative  Condition  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  >  rmi^s  at  fiis  Time— President,  Lincoln  *t  the  Gettysburg  Ceme 
tery—  Popular  Feeling— The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Reformation. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
GENERAL  GRANT  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  ARMIES,  -    325 

The  Change  in  Methods  When  the  Armv  Came  Under  His  C,  mmand— Tue  Series  of 
Flank  Movements  on  Richmond— The  Only  Battle  Grant  "  Would  Not  Fight 
Again  "—A  Pause  After  the  Terrible  Losses  on  Each  Side. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
SHERMAN'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  GEORGIA,  -        -        -    342 

The  Capture  of  Atlanta  and  Removal  of  the  Inhabitants— Preparing  for  the  March 
to  the  Sea— Capture  of  Savannah. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  ELECTIONS  IN  1864,  -        -        -        -    360 

Governor  Buckingham  Again  Re-elected— The  Voting  of  Soldiers  in  the  Field— Gov- 
erno-  Buckingham's  Words  on  Shivery  in  His  Message— Adoption  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Amendment— Mr.  Lincoln  Re-elected. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
THE  LAST  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR,  370 

Review  of  the  Situation— Fight  in  Mobile  Bay— Sherman  in  Georgia— Grant's  In 
vestment  of  Petersburg— Evacuation  of  Richmond— Decisive  Battle  at  Sailor's 
Creek. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII.  387 

Surrender  of  the  Two  Principal  Confederate  Armies—  Negotiations  for  Surrender- 
Difficulties  in  the  Way  Made  Unconditional—  Magnanimity  of  the  Union  Com 
manders—Its  Appreciation  by  the  Confederates—  No  More  Fighting—  The  Relief 
of  the  South—  The  Joy  of  the  North. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
ASSASSINATION  OF  MH.  LINCOLN.  403 

The  Co/.spirators  and  Crime — Their  Trial  aud  Punishment — Effect  Upon  the  Nation 
—Testimonials  of  Respect  and  Giief— The  Funeral  Procession  to  His  Burial 
Place— Strange  Tribute  from  the  World's  Great  caricaturist.  • 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  WAR  OVER,  -  -ii4 

The  Cost  of  the  War— Measures  Taken  to  Stop  the  Expenses— Grand  Review  aud 
Disband ment  of  the  Army— Difference  Between  Eastern  and  Western  Troops- 
Equal  Tributes  Paid  to  Both  by  their  Two  Great  Commanders. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
A  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND,  420 

Personal  Observations  in  the  City  Soon  After  its  Evacuation— The  Temper  of 
the  People— The  Disposition  to  Accept  the  Result  of  the  War  and  Cultivate 
Friendship. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
GOVERNOR  BUCKINGHAM'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1865,  430 

Close  of  the  War—  -V  hat  Connecticut  Had  Done— The  Loyal  Governors— Recon 
struction  Begun  in  Congress  and  in  the  States— The  Adoption  of  the  Xlllth 
Amendment  by  Connecticut— Acquiescence  in  it  by  the  South— Testimony  of  a 
Southern  Bishop. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

GREAT  BRITAIN  CALLED  TO  ACCOUNT  FOR  BUILDING  CONFEDERATE 
CRUISERS,  439 

The  Alabama— Our  Claims  for  Damages— The  Geneva  Award—"  Howl  Ran  iuto  the 
Builder  of  the  Alabama  "—Napoleon  Ill's  Latin  Kingdom  in  Mexico  Disposed  of 
by  Our  "Monroe  Doctrine." 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

UNITED  STATES  SENATOR,  452 

Governor  Buckingham's  Term  in  the  Senate-His  Share  in  Maintaining  What  Had 
Been  Gained  by  the  War— Some  of  His  Work— His  Death  Shortly  Before  the  Ex- 
piration  of  His  Term  of  Office. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
ESTIMATES  OF  CHARACTER  AND  SERVICE,  -        -        -    462 

Ext- acts  from  the  Newspaper  Articles  Drawn  out  by  Governor  Buckingham's  Death 
—Eulogies  in  Congress— The  Funeral  Services. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
PERSONAL  TRAITS  OF  CHARACTER,      -  494 

Governor  Buckingham's  Connection  with  Christian  and  Benevolent  Associations— 
The  Fh>t  Triennial  Congregational  Council — His  Ability  as  its  Moderator — His. 
Style  of  \Vriting  an-1  Address— Photograph  Copv  of  His  Letter  to  the  President 
in  Transmitting  tneir  Papei  on  the  "SUte  of  the  Country." 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
BUCKINGHAM  DAY,  -        -    508 

Unveiling  of  the  Statue— How  Ordered  and  How  Dedicated— Gathering  of  Old 
Soldiers— Ceremonies  and  Addresses— statue  Placed  Among  the  Battle  Flags. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  521 

A.  Reminder  of  What  They  Have  Been— What  Made  Them  What  They  are— The 
Character  They  Have  to  Maintain. 


INDEX,  - 533 


THE  BUCKINGHAM  FAMILY. 

Thomas  Buckingham,  the  first  of  the  name  in  this  coun 
try,  was  one  of  the  colony  that  settled  New  Haven,  CL 
The  company  came  over  during  the  summer  of  1637,  passed 
the  winter  in  Boston,  and  sailed  around  to  Quinnipick,  the 
Indian  name  of  their  future  home, the  next  spring.  This,  as 
the  historian  Trumbull  says,  was  the  most  opulent  com 
pany  which  came  into  New  England.  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr. 
Hopkins  had  been  merchants  in  London,  possessed  great 
estates,  and  were  men  of  eminence  for  abilities  and  integrity. 
They  had  with  them  for  their  clergyman  Mr.  Davenport,  a 
famous  minister  in  the  city  of  London.  And  the  fame  of 
Mr.  Davenport,  the  reputation  and  good  estates  of  the 
principal  gentlemen  of  the  company,  made  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  says  the  historian,  desirous  of  their  settle 
ment  in  that  Commonwealth.  It  appears  from  the  original 
records,  that  Thomas  Buckingham,  as  one  of  the  colonists, 
received  his  allotment  of  land  near  the  corner  of  College 
and  Crown  streets,  New  Haven,  not  far  from  the  spot  where 
the  large  spreading  oak  stood,  under  which  Mr.  Davenport 
preached  his  first  sermon  on  the  temptations  of  the  wil 
derness,  and  where  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  afterwards  born. 

But  new  settlements  were  to  be  made,  and  as  the  colony 
possessed  another  minister,  the  next  spring  another  church 
was  organized,  and  Mr.  Pruden  settled  over  it,  and  this  com 
pany  removed  to  Milford,  ten  miles  west.  Their  mode  of 
organizing  a  church  was  this:  Seven  men  of  Christian 
faith  and  exemplary  life  were  chosen,  who  covenanted  to 
gether,  and  with  God,  to  walk  in  all  the  ways  and  ordi- 


Z  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

nances  of  the  Lord  blameless.  These  men  were  styled 
"  The  Seven  Pillars,"  and  to  these  the  other  members  were 
added.  Among  these  Seven  Pillars  is  found  the  name  of 
Thomas  Buckingham,  and  among  the  first  to  be  joined  to 
them,  is  Hannah  his  wife.  Opposite  his  name,  is  entered 
upon  the  Church  Records  in  the  hand  writing  of  the  second 
minister,  "  dyed  in  Boston."  *  It  seems  that  some  seven 
teen  years  after  his  removal  to  Milford,  upon  the  death  of 
his  pastor,  he  was  sent  to  the  Bay  to  secure  another  minis 
ter,  where  he  died  in  1657. 

He  left  a  family  of  six  children,  two  of  them  born  in 
England.  The  youngest  of  them,  Thomas,  the  direct 
ancestor  of  the  Governor,  was  born  at  Milford  in  1646,  and 
became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Saybrook,  Ct.  This  "  Min 
ister  Buckingham,"  as  he  was  called,  held  an  honorable 
and  useful  position  in  the  Connecticut  colonies.  He  was 
one  of  the  ten  ministers  who  founded  Yale  College,  and 
had  under  his  supervision  and  instruction  a  portion  of  the 
students,  and  for  the  eighteen  years  the  college  was  located  at 
Saybrook,  and  the  commencements  held  there.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  moderators  of  the  synod  that  framed  the  "  Saybrook 
Platform,"  the  system  of  faith  and  government  upon  which 
the  churches  of  Connecticut  were  organized.  He  was  like 
wise  the  faithful  friend  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  and 
one  in  whom  they  confided.  One  of  the  sons  of  Uncas,  the 
Mohigan  Sachem,  made  Minister  Buckingham  an  executor 
of  his  will  and  guardian  of  his  children,  and  desired  that 
his  sons  should  receive  an  English  education,  and  that  he 
liimself  should  be  buried  at  Saybrook,  in  a  coffin,  after  the 
manner  of  the  English.  Here  this  good  pastor  died  in 
1709,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  after  a  ministry  of  forty- 
four  years,  leaving  behind  him  a  large  and  estimable  family. 
His  family  consisted  of  nine  children,  who  all  lived  to  grow 
up,  and  were  married  and  settled  in  the  town,  and  where 
most  of  them  remained  for  several  generations.  Indeed,  it 


*  Records  of  the  First  Church,  Milford,  Ct. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  3 

was  not  until  the  beginning  of  this  century,  that  the  father 
of  the  Governor  left  there  and  settled  in  Lebanon. 

Deacon  Samuel  Buckingham,  the  Governor's  father,  the 
fifth  (5)  in  descent  from  the  "minister,"  and  sixth  from  the 
first  settler,  was  born  at  Saybrook  in  1770,  where  he  lived 
until  after  his  marriage  and  the  birth  of  his  eldest  daughter, 
when  he  removed  to  Lebanon  in  1803.  Here  William 
Alfred  Buckingham,  "  The  War  Governor "  as  he  was 
termed,  was  born  May  28,  1804. 


GOV.  BUCKINGHAM'S  HOME  AND 
TRAINING. 

Lebanon,  Ct.,  which  lies  on  the  old  stage  road  from  Nor 
wich  to  Hartford,  eleven  miles  from  the  former  to  the  Brick 
Meeting  House  in  Lebanon,  is  a  typical  New  England  town. 
The  township  is  large,  some  six  miles  by  eight  in  territory, 
and  entirely  devoted  to  farming.  Its  soil,  a  moist  black 
loam,  considerably  stony,  with  plenty  of  mud  in  the  spring, 
very  green  in  the  summer,  and  never  so  fresh  as  when 
there  is  drought  elsewhere,  makes  it  a  good  agricultural 
region.  The  principal  street  stretches  along  a  ridge  five 
or  six  miles,  with  the  farms  running  down  on  each  side 
into  the  valleys,  and  showing  a  substantial  and  thrifty  popu 
lation.  The  inhabitants  arc  almost  entirely  of  New  Eng 
land  stock,  proud  of  their  town  and  of  its  history,  and  not 
unmindful  of  the  number  and  character  of  the  Governors 
they  have  furnished  to  the  State,  and  their  long  term  of 
service.  This  is  no  empty  boast,  for  they  have  given  the 
State  five  Governors,  the  three  Trumbulls,  Governor  Bissell 
and  Governor  Buckingham  together  holding  that  office  for 
a  third  of  a  century.  The  town  never  had  a  population  of 
quite  4,000 ;  still  a  century  ago,  when  Hartford  had  barely 
5,000,  and  Farmington,  which  was  larger,  had  only  6,000, 
the  leading  characters  of  the  State  were  quite  as  likely  to 
be  found  in  such  a  community  as  elsewhere.  For  such 
towns  were  pretty  sure  to  have  an  able  ministry,  good 
schools  and  good  society. 

Dr.  Solomon  Williams,  "  among  the  most  prominent  of 
the  New  England  clergy,"  was  pastor  there  for  fifty-four 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  5 

years  (1722-1776).  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College, 
a  student  as  well  as  a  pastor,  accustomed  to  read  in  con 
nection  with  his  family  devotions  and  translate  from  either 
the  Greek  or  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  doing  much  to  provide 
for  the  town  the  means  of  a  higher  education.  For  a  long 
course  of  years  Lebanon  was  distinguished  for  the  best 
grammar  school  in  any  country  town  in  Connecticut — the 
one  taught  by  Mr.  Nathan  Tisdale,  a  Harvard  graduate. 
This  school  was  established  chiefly  by  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
Williams,  and  the  consequence  was  that  for  many  years 
the  town  was  not  only  remarkable  for  its  intelligence,  but 
furnished  more  ministers  of  the  Gospel  than  perhaps  any 
other  town  of  its  size  in  the  State.  And  not  alone  minis 
ters  were  educated  here,  but  men  for  every  profession  and 
pursuit  in  life,  and  "  this  school  was  so  extensively  and 
favorably  known  that  it  numbered  among  its  pupils  youth 
from  almost  every  part  of  the  country."  Such  intellectual 
and  religious  influences  created  a  public  sentiment  there, 
and  gave  a  character  to  society  which  has  never  been  lost. 
The  town  can  show  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  liberally 
educated  men  who  were  born  there,  and  mostly  educated  at 
Yale  College.  To  this  day  the  town  is  not  regarded  as  keep 
ing  up  to  its  standard,  unless  two  or  three  of  its  sons  are  in 
that  university. 

Here  was  the  home  of  the  Trumbull  family,  who  not  only 
honored  the  gubernatorial  office,  but  filled  so  many  public 
positions  with  distinguished  credit  and  usefulness.  The 
father,  "  the  War  Governor  of  the  Revolution,"  who  held 
that  office  fifteen  years,  was  Washington's  "  Brother  Jona 
than,"  his  friend  and  counselor ;  his  son  Joseph,  commissary 
general  of  Washington's  army  ;  Jonathan,  Jr.,  paymaster  in 
Washington's  army,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  in  Congress,  Senator  in  Congress  and  for  eleven  years 
Governor  of  the  State ;  David,  assistant  commissary  general 
and  father  of  Governor  Joseph ;  and  John,  the  painter, 


6  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

whose  historical  works  enrich  our  national  capitol ;  his 
daughter  Faith,  the  wife  of  General  Jedediah  Huntington 
of  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  his  daughter  Mary,  the 
wife  of  William  Williams,  "signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence."  This  last  was  a  son  of  the  old  minister, 
and  as  true  a  patriot  as  the  country  saw.  He  sleeps  with 
the  rest  in  that  "  Trumbull  tomb,"  in  the  old  burying  ground 
at  Lebanon,  which  we  venture  to  say  contains  as  much 
patriotic  and  sacred  dust  as  is  garnered  in  any  other. 

The  place,  too,  had  its  history.  Events  have  occurred 
there  important  enough  to  inspire  the  noblest  thoughts  and 
prompt  to  heroic  lives,  while  mixed  with  them  was  romance 
enough  to  stir  the  dullest  natures.  There  is  the  governor's 
"  War  Office,"  still  preserved,  and  in  charge  of  the  "  Con 
necticut  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,"  where  the  State 
Committee  of  Safety  held  its  meetings  all  through  the  war, 
ten  or  fifteen  hundred  of  them,  and  where  Washington  came 
to  consult  with  the  governor,  and  where  our  statesmen  and 
officers  of  the  army  and  the  commanders  of  the  French 
troops  and  fleet  planned  with  him  some  of  the  important 
expeditions  of  the  war,  like  that  of  Yorktown,  which  ended 
the  war,  and  secured  to  us  our  independence.  Here  is  where 
a  squadron  of  French  cavalry,  under  Count  de  Lauzun,  en 
camped  for  the  winter  and  held  their  levees  at  the  head 
quarters  of  their  gay  commander,  and  where  Washington 
reviewed  five  regiments  of  Count  Rochambeau's  army 
before  they  set  out  on  their  last  and  most  distinguished 
campaign. 

Such  things  have  their  influence  upon  a  community,  and 
the  subject  of  this  memoir  must  have  felt  it.  Indeed,  we 
cannot  help  thinking,  when  he  stood  with  the  rest  of  us  boys 
before  that  tomb  in  the  old  burying  ground,  where  the  dust 
of  the  Trumbulls  and  the  Williamses  was  resting  so  quietly, 
that  he  was  drinking  in  his  best  lessons  of  patriotism  and 
noble  living.  And  sure  we  are,  that  next  to  the  fear  of  God. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  7 

and  anxiety  to  please  him,  Connecticut's  last  "  War  Gov 
ernor  "  was  trying  to  be  to  the  state  and  to  the  nation  some 
thing  like  the  first  u  War  Governor."  It  was  in  such  a 
community  and  amid  such  surroundings  that  Governor 
Buckingham  had  his  birth  and  early  training. 

The  Governor  was  born  into  a  pleasant  home  and  came 
under  good  influences.  The  house  is  one  that  his  father- 
built,  and  is  among  the  best  in  the  town,  standing  under 
lofty  shade  trees,  with  a  plenty  of  fruit  trees  about  it,  and  a 
good  farm  attached.  Just  beyond  is  "  the  Brick  Meeting 
House,"  a  remarkably  fine  country  church,  with  its  beautiful 
spire  and  noble,  recessed  entrance,  the  design  having  been 
furnished,  it  is  said,  by  Trumbull,  the  painter.  It  is  located 
at  the  south  end  of  a  common,  a  mile  long  and  more  than 
one-eighth  of  a  mile  wide,  with  a  street  and  well-shaded 
houses  on  each  side  of  it.  It  is  not  cleared  of  stone  and 
graded,  except  at  the  two  ends,  and  particularly  about  the 
church,  for  such  a  work  completed  was  too  much  for  the 
means  of  such  a  population.  But  such  a  building  in  such  a 
setting  is  a  striking  feature  in  the  landscape.  After  seeing 
it,  and  remembering  the  attractions  and  advantages  which 
such  a  place  would  hold  out  to  settlers,  we  are  not  surprised 
that  his  parents  located  there,  for  they  appreciated  good 
society,  valued  the  means  of  education,  and  prized  religious 
privileges.  As  the  father  said  in  giving  his  reasons  for  his 
selection  :  "  I  wanted  a  good  farm,  and  then  to  be  near  the 
church,  near  the  school,  near  the  mill,  and  near  the  doctor." 

"  Captain  "  Buckingham,  as  he  was  called  in  early  life, 
having  commanded  a  military  company,  or  "  Deacon"  Buck 
ingham,  by  which  title  he  was  known  in  after  life,  was  an 
enterprising  and  thrifty  farmer.  He  had  one  source  of 
income,  however,  besides  his  farm,  for  when  a  young  man, 
and  before  he  left  Say  brook,  he  and  two  or  three  others  built 
the  first  two  fishing  piers  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut 
to  take  shad,  and  retained  all  his  life  his  interest  in  these 


8  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

fisheries,  which  were  worth  as  much  to  him  as  his  farm. 
But  he  was  a  careful  and  successful  farmer,  living  comfort 
ably,  having  the  means  of  educating  his  children  and  of 
being  public-spirited  and  benevolent,  making  his  house  the 
liome  of  hospitality,  and  leaving  behind  him  for  those  days 
a  snug  little  property.  He  was  fond  of  the  cultivation  of 
fruit,  and  before  nurseries  and  grafted  trees  were  common, 
raised  fruit  in  abundance  and  of  the  choicest  varieties.  His 
buildings  were  always  kept  in  good  repair  and  painted  as 
white  as  fresh  paint  could  make  them,  so  that  his  well- 
shaded  and  pleasant  residence  became  a  striking  feature  in 
the  landscape,  and  gave  a  good  idea  of  what  the  best  New 
England  homes  were. 

He  was  active  and  liberal  in  maintaining  good  schools. 
After  "  Master  Tisdale  "  died,  and  his  school  was  given  up, 
a  select  school  was  maintained  under  some  college  graduate 
for  both  sexes,  but  sometimes  it  became  a  school  for  young 
ladies  under  superior  instruction.  Here  his  own  children 
were  educated  until  they  needed  better  advantages,  when 
they  were  all  sent  away  to  enjoy  them.  The  church  also,  in 
which  he  was  for  many  years  a  deacon,  and  of  which  he  was 
such  a  revered  and  beloved  member,  found  in  him  one  of 
its  best  friends.  To  secure  a  good  minister  when  he  was 
needed ;  to  provide  well  for  his  support ;  to  build  a  parson 
age,  and  then  make  his  pastor's  residence  in  it  as  comfort 
able  as  possible;  in  everything  of  this  kind  he  naturally 
took  a  leading  part,  while  his  life  exemplified  the  Gospel, 
and  gave  new  force  to  preaching.  He  had  a  peculiar  regard 
for  ministers,  prized  their  society,  and  loved  to  entertain 
them  :  so  that  his  house  was  familiarly  called  "  The  Minis 
ters'  Tavern."  He  loved  good  people  and  good  things,  and 
any  good  cause  was  likely  to  find  in  him  a  firm  supporter 
and  true  friend.  When  the  temperance  reform  commenced, 
he  was  the  first  to  adopt  its  principles  and  carry  them  out 
in  the  management  of  his  farm.  Though  told  that  he  never 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

could  hire  men  to  work  for  him,  without  furnishing  them 
with  ardent  spirits  in  haying  time  at  least,  his  reply  was : 
"  I  think  I  can  by  giving  them  more  wages."  And  he  not 
only  succeeded  in  banishing  New  England  rum  from  the 
farm,  but  New  England  cider  also,  when  every  comfortable 
farmer  was  expected  to  put  into  his  cellar  from  ten  to  thirty 
barrels  of  it,  to  be  drank  up  in  the  course  of  the  year.  lie 
was  too  conscientious  and  benevolent  to  maintain  a  custom 
so  dangerous  to  individuals,  and  so  injurious  to  the  com 
munity,  when  such  easy  protection  could  be  furnished 
against  its  dangers.  Thus  his  son  was  taught  those  strict 
temperance  principles  to  which  he  scrupulously  adhered  all 
his  life. 

In  any  delineation  of  the  father's  character,  prominence 
should  be  given  to  his  rare  good  judgment.  He  would  not 
pretend  to  judge  of  subjects  of  which  he  had  little  or  no 
knowledge,  but  upon  matters  with  which  he  was  acquainted, 
his  opinions  were  definite  and  eminently  wise.  His  habits 
of  business  were  careful  and  exact,  while  his  industry  and 
thoroughness,  combined  with  his  good  judgment,  were  quite 
sure  to  render  his  business  plans  successful.  He  was  lib 
eral  toward  public  improvements,  religious  institutions, 
Christian  missions  and  the  poor  about  him,  regarding  him 
self  in  all  such  matters  as  the  steward  of  the  Lord,  who 
would  be  found  faithful  to  his  trust.  In  his  own  family  he 
was  full  of  tenderness  and  affection,  while  his  ideas  of  duty 
and  propriety  were  distinct  and  carefully  insisted  upon, 
nothing  rude  or  unkind  even  in  speech  being  permitted 
there,  any  more  than  what  was  vulgar  and  wicked  any 
where.  The  Governor  might  have  been  called  "  Bill " 
by  his  companions  on  the  playground,  but  never  in  his 
father's  house.  He  was  himself  a  gentleman  not  only  in 
speech  and  manners,  but  in  his  sentiments,  and  the  courtesy 
and  sincerity  with  which  he  entertained  his  guests  were  quite 
remarkable.  He  admired  public  men  of  ability  and  integ- 


}0  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

rity— had  great  respect  for  honest  folk,  however  humble 
they  might  be— he  loved  all  Christian  people  wherever  ho 
found  them,  and  character  always  weighed  more  with  him 
than  wealth  or  rank  or  talent.  He  profoundly  revered  his 
Maker  and  had  supreme  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  his  son,  and 
like  his  Puritan  ancestry,  tried  to  "  serve  his  generation 
according  to  the  will  of  God,  and  having  done  so  fell  on  sleep, 
and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers',"  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty,  leaving  to  his  family  their  best  inheritance  in  the 
principles  he  taught  them,  the  example  he  set  them,  and 
the  name  he  honored. 

His  wife  was  Joanna  Matson  of  Lyme,  Ct.,  whose  brothers- 
were  prominent  men  in  the  town,  one  of 'them  a  venerable 
deacon  in  the  Old  Church  there,  while  her  sister  was  the 
mother  of  the   late  Chief  Justice  Waite   of    Connecticut, 
and    grandmother  of  Chief  Justice    Waite  of  the   United 
States  Supreme  Court.     While  the  Governor  resembled  his 
father   most  in   personal   appearance,   and   possessed   hi& 
father's  rare  business  qualities,  he  inherited  his  mother's 
temperament,  her   alertness  of  mind,  her  capacity  for  in 
tense   and   unwearied  activity,  as  well  as  her  affectionate 
nature,    tender  sympathies    and  free-handed  benevolence. 
She  was  a  person  of  unaffected  modesty,  and  all  womanly 
delicacy,  yet  with  great  executive  ability  and  such  good  judg 
ment  that  her  husband  always  consulted  her  in  business- 
matters,  and  said  after  her  death  that  he  never  succeeded 
well  in  any  enterprise  of  which  she  did  not  fully  approve. 
She  was  resolute  of  purpose,  quick  to  provide  for  an  emer 
gency,  and  with  fortitude  equal  to  any  crisis.     Her  brothers, 
who  were  fond  of  horses,  used  to  say :  "  Annie  can  ride  any 
horse   that  we  can  ride."     And  in  those  times  when  t 
much  of  traveling  was  done  on  horseback,  this  was  not  a 
mere  accomplishment  for  a  lady,  but  a  necessary  part  of  her 
education,  so  that  every  well-conditioned  bride    received, 
on  her  marriage,  as  she  did,  her  own  riding  horse,  and  side- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  11 

saddle  and  pillion,  as  much  as  her  bridal  dress,  and  family 
linen.— As  showing  her  courage  and  prompt  energy,  when 
the  Governor  was  a  child,  she  once  missed  him,  and  flying 
to  the  well,  thought  the  bright  spot  reflected  from  the  sides, 
was  the  head  of  her  child  upon  the  surface  of  the  water. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  she  climbed  down  the  wet 
and  slippery  sides  of  that  well,  thirty  feet  deep, till  she  could 
see  to  the  bottom,  and  relieve  her  anxieties.  In  the  spring 
time,  when  the  farm  required  the  most  attention,  and  her 
husband  was  obliged  to  spend  six  weeks  at  Saybrook,  look 
ing  after  his  fisheries,  she  managed  the  farm.  With  all 
that  was  delicate  and  womanly,  she  possessed  this  capacity 
for  anything  that  needed  to  be  done,  and  when  it  was  done, 
it  was  with  the  propriety  and  grace  with  which  only  a 
woman  can  do  every  thing.  But  this  was  not  her  best 
sphere.  In  her  family,  with  her  husband  and  children, 
among  her  neighbors,  with  her  guests,  in  the  chamber  of 
sickness,  at  the  bedside  of  the  suffering,  there  she  was  most 
at  home  and  best  beloved.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  depth 
and  tenderness  of  her  domestic  love,  or  the  anxiety  she  felt 
about  the  habits,  principles  and  religious  character  of  her 
family.  She  used  to  plan  wisely  and  comprehensively  for 
her  children,  and  was  exceedingly  desirous  that  they  should 
be  something  and  do  something  in  the  world,  but  her 
ambition  was  held  in  subordination  to  her  piety,  and  she 
would  always  add  to  her  encouragement  and  hopes  :  "  Well, 
whatever  else  you  are,  I  want  you  to  be  Christians."  With 
such  a  character,  and  such  an  influence,  is  it  any  wonder 
that  she  has  left  behind  her  a  memory  enshrined  in  the 
hearts  of  her  children,  somewhat  like  The  Madonna's 
among  good  Roman  Catholics  ? 

Perhaps  no  better  idea  of  her  character,  or  fitter  tribute 
to  her  memory,  can  be  given  than  was  heard  from  her 
pastor  years  after  her  death,  when  he  had  removed  to 
another  town,  where  in  age  and  infirmity  he  occasionally 


12  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

occupied  the  pulpit.  A  friend  of  the  family  happening  to 
pass  a  Sabbath  there,  was  gratified  to  hear  this  reference  to 
her  as  an  illustration  of  the  minister's  subject :  "  When  I 
became  pastor  of  the  church,  to  which  for  many  years  I 
ministered,  I  was  struck  wherever  I  went  with  the  love 
and  gratitude  which  all  found  out  at  the  mention  of  one 
individual — That  individual  was  the  mother  of  our  present 
crood  Governor — a  noble  son  of  a  noble  mother.  Beneath 
every  roof  her  name  was  most  affectionately  mentioned,  as 
her  memory  no\v  is  sacredly  cherished.  I  wondered  how 
she  had  thus  endeared  herself  to  the  hearts  of  that  people. 
But  when  I  saw  her  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  dying, 
ministering  like  an  angel  from  above  to  their  relief — when 
I  saw  her  gifts  scattered  wherever  they  were  needed— 
when  I  saw  how  little  she  spent  upon  herself  and  how 
cheerfully  she  gave  to  others  ;  I  understood  the  secret. 
Others  beside  our  Maker  love  such  a  spirit,  and  weep  when 
it  is  withdrawn  from  the  scenes  of  earth." 

Into  such  a  home  this  child  was  born ;  and  there  never 
was  a  warmer  or  safer  nest,  where  with  four  other  chil 
dren — two  sisters,  and  two  brothers — lie  was  trained  for  his 
life  work. 

As  a  boy  the  Governor  had  as  much  mischief,  daring, 
recklessness,  as  most  boys,  and  rather  more.  "  There,"  said 
an  old  man  who  had  been  one  of  the  companions  of  his 
boyhood,  pointing  to  the  roof  of  a  neighboring  house  which 
hung  high  above  a  lower  roof,  and  both  too  high  to  fall 
from  without  risking  life,  "  William  was  once  up  there, 
and  I  was  below,  and  I  heard  him  cry :  '  Catch  me  !  catch 
me  !  I'm  falling  ! ' — when  down  he  came  on  that  lower  roof, 
and  1  caught  him  before  he  fell  any  further.  And  if  1 
had  not,"  he  added,  "  I  don't  see  how  Connecticut  could 
ever  have  had  him  for  Governor." 

Connecticut's  future  "War  Governor"  was  no  doubt 
being  raised  up,  and  his  very  nerve,  and  courage,  and  dar- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  13 

ing,  which  he  would  need  so  much,  were  being  developed 
by  the  habits  of  his  boyhood.  He  loved  to  climb  the  tallest 
tree,  skate  on  the  thinnest  ice,  and  ride  the  wildest  colt,— 
here  is  where  he  acquired  his  fine  horsemanship,  so  notice 
able  when  he  rode  with  his  staff  on  parade  Election  Day, 
the  day  of  the  Governor's  Inauguration,  or  when  he  had 
occasion  to  review  his  State  troops.  Every  old  veteran, 
whom  he  sent  off  in  his  regiments,  or  welcomed  back,  will 
recall  his  appearance  on  horseback. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  only 
acquaintance  he  ever  had  with  military  affairs,  was  as  a 
member  of  a  company  or  cavalry  in  his  native  town.  He 
enlisted  before  he  left  home,  and  as  he  was  required  to  do 
military  duty  somewhere,  he  preferred  to  do  it  there  among 
his  old  comrades,  and  so  for  years  after  his  residence  was 
in  Norwich,  the  first  Monday  in  May,  and  the  first  Monday 
in  September,  always  found  him  in  their  ranks.  Those 
Troopers  were  a  famous  set  of  boys  in  those  times  and  in 
those  parts.  Their  uniform  was  gorgeous — scarlet  coats, 
white  pantaloons,  heavy,  black  bear  skin  cap,  with  white 
plume  feathers  and  red  tip,  the  saddle  with  its  holsters 
and  valise,  and  horse  with  curbed  bit  and  double  reins,  and 
showy  housings.  Then  the  horses, — not  well  trained,  to  be 
sure,  but  each  the  pride  of  some  young  farmer, — when  in 
line  making  such  a  show,  and  in  motion  as  they  trotted  off 
and  especially  on  a  full  gallop,  so  formidable  to  our  boyish 
eyes — before  any  of  us  knew  anything  of  real  war, — these 
gave  us  our  ideas  of  Cromwell's  "  Ironsides  that  were  never 
conquered,"  and  Napoleon's  legions  which  thundered  over 
Europe.  And  what  made  this  thundering  part  so  real  was 
their  heavy  cavalry  pistol  loaded  to  the  muzzel,  which  they 
were  always  firing.— This  leads  me  to  refer  to  the  most 
serious,  and  what  came  near  being  the  most  to  be  regretted 
rashness  of  the  Governor's  youth.  He  and  his  company 
were  on  their  way  to  a  regimental  review,  and  riding  up  to 


14  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  Tavern,  a  squad  of  them,  as  was  their  habit,  gave  the 
inmates  and  the  neighborhood  a  rousing  salute.  The 
tavern  keeper,  as  he  came  to  the  door,  received  their  dis 
charge  full  in  his  face,  and  the  Governor's  charge  went 
straight  through  his  hat.  Of  course  it  was  a  matter  of 
deep  regret  and  ample  apology.  But  the  pleasant  result 
of  it  was,  that  the  one  who  was  treated  so  roughly,  was 
over  after  one  of  the  Governor's  good  friends,  and  we  ven 
ture  to  say  that,  whatever  might  have  been  his  politics,  if 
he  lived  to  have  the  opportunity,  he  alwavs  voted  for  him. 
At  any  rate  he  never  came  to  Norwich  without  calling 
upon  the  Governor,  and  once  a  year  the  Governor  gave 
him  a  new  hat.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  pranks 
of  the  Governor's  boyhood,  or  the  indiscretions  of  his  youth, 
he  kept  his  heart  true  and  noble,  and  his  morals  pure.  He 
was  frank  to  acknowledge  his  faults  and  would  take  more 
than  his  share  of  the  blame,  and  you  could  not  make  him 
tell  a  lie,  while  his  sincere  regret  for  his  misconduct  made 
you  love  the  child,  as  his  readiness  to  right  the  wrongs 
he  might  have  done,  secured  respect  and  inspired  confi 
dence  in  the  man. 

Governor  Buckingham  acquired  most  of  his  education  in 
his  native  town.  He  was  for  a  while  in  the  Family  School 
of  a  neighboring  clergyman,  then  sent  to  the  Bacon  Acad 
emy  at  Colchester,  and  as  he  wished  to  become  a  land  sur 
veyor,  a  profession  which  at  that  time  had  some  of  the 
attractions  of  civil  engineering  now,  and  also  had  some 
State  patronage,  he  was  put  into  the  field  in  charge  of  one 
of  that  profession.  His  love  of  mathematics,  as  well  as 
his  energetic  physical  nature,  prompted  him  in  that  direc 
tion.  But  after  trying  it  for  a  while,  and  then  teaching 
successfully  for  a  winter  a  common  district  school,  he  came 
home  and  worked  for  three  years  upon  the  farm.  He 
always  claimed  that  he  did  as  much  work  as  any  of  the 
hired  men,  and  pointed  in  proof  of  it  to  the  solid  stone  wall 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  15 

lie  laid,  and  which  must  stand  there  yet,  to  show  that  he 
was  always  good  for  any  hard  work  that  he  was  set  to  do. 
It  was  decided,  however,  that  he  should  go  into  his  uncle's 
•dry-goods  store  at  Norwich,  where  he  remained  two  years, 
and  after  spending  a  short  time  in  a  wholesale  store  in 
New  York,  he  returned  to  Norwich,  to  begin  business  for 
himself. 

This  began  at  Norwich  in  1826.  In  1830  he  added  to  his 
dry- goods  trade  the  manufacture  of  ingrain  carpeting.  In 
1848,  having  furnished  a  friend  with  means  to  carry  on  the 
manufacture  of  rubber  boots  and  shoes, — a  business  then 
in  its  infancy, — he  relinquished  all  his  other  business,  to 
organize  the  Hay  ward  Rubber  Company,  of  which  he  was 
the  principal  business  manager,  until  he  went  into  public 
life,  and  its  treasurer  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  was  a 
stockholder  also  in  a  number  of  other  manufacturing  com 
panies,  to  several  of  which  he  devoted  special  attention. 
Indeed  it  was  a  general  business  principal  with  him,  not  to 
invest  his  money  where  he  could  not  have  an  oversight  of  it, 
and  wherever  he  was  a  director,  and  especially  if  he  was  a 
trustee,  he  felt  bound  to  look  after  it  more  carefully  than  if 
it  was  his  own  property  that  was  concerned.  His  business 
ideas  and  habits  were  most  exact  and  rigid.  He  could  give 
away  money  cheerfully,  and  meet  losses  with  equanimity, 
but  failure  to  meet  business  engagements,  or  neglect  of 
responsibilities  that  he  had  allowed  to  be  put  upon  him, 
were  not  to  be  thought  of.  While  conducting  business 
on  a  large  scale  for  thirty  years,  which  included  periods 
of  serious  financial  disturbance  in  the  country,  like  that 
of  1837,  he  constantly  maintained  his  credit,  paid  his 
obligations  and  passed  safely  through  the  crises  which 
wrecked  or  crippled  so  many  men  who  were  both  able  and 
industrious  in  their  business.  Such  a  business  character 
and  habits  proved  of  great  service  when  the  war  came  on, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  appeal  to  individuals  and  monied 


16  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

institutions  for  the  means  of  raising  and  equipping  troops 
for  the  field,  and  also  in  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  State 
promptly  and  easily  squared  up  with  the  General  Govern 
ment.  His  business  ability  and  habits  made  him  successful 
in  each  of  the  kinds  of  business  in  which  he  engaged,  so 
that  he  acquired  a  handsome  property  for  the  times  which 
preceded  the  war,  when  no  such  fortunes  were  rapidly 
accumulated  as  have  been  made  since  ;  so  that  he  had  the 
means,  as  well  as  the  disposition,  to  be  public  spirited  and 
charitable,  as  well  as  give  to  his  State  the  benefits  of  his 
personal  credit  and  private  fortune.  He  was  so  long  in 
public  life  that,  with  his  ideas  of  official  duty,  he  was 
obliged  to  neglect  his  own  business,  and  suffer  losses,  of 
which  he  never  complained,  only  playfully  remarking,  as 
he  did  to  a  friend  in  Washington  when  he  was  senator : 
"  If  one  comes  here  and  makes  any  money  while  he  is  in 
Congress,  he  has  been  robbing  the  Government ;  but  if  lie 
has  lost  any,  he  is  irregular  in  his  habits,  which  last  must 
be  the  case  with  me." 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  COUNTRY  BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

How  Slavery  was  at  First  Regarded — The  Expectation  that  it  Would 
at  Last  Cease  to  Exist — Agreements  for  Its  Restriction  Broken — 
The  Missouri  Compromise,  Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  Kansas  Ques 
tion—Birth  of  the  Republican  Party. 

In  every  respect,  save  one,  nothing  seemed  so  unlikely 
as  secession  and  civil  war.  The  South  and  the  North 
had  essentially  the  same  English  origin.  They  were 
united  by  kinship,  acquaintance  and  business.  They 
had  struggled  together  through  the  War  of  Independ 
ence,  and  no  two  of  our  original  colonies,  who  now 
found  themselves  most  at  variance  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  were  more  united  and  determined  in  behalf  of 
freedom  than  Virginia  and  Massachusetts.  They  had 
been  considerate  of  each  other's'  convictions  and  wishes, 
and  made  all  needful  concessions  in  the  organization 
of  the  General  Government,  and  to  secure  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution.  And  since  its  adoption,  we 
had  enjoyed  together  for  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
as  we  boastfully,  but  not  untruthfully,  said,  more  free 
dom  and  prosperity  than  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any 
other  people  on  the  globe.  We  were  strong  in  our 
unity ; — so  strong  that  the  most  powerful  nations  were 
reluctant  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  us,  we  were  so  sure 
to  stand  by  one  another  if  they  did.  And  when  we 
were  so  well  aware  that  union  was  our  safety,  and 
disunion  our  destruction,  as  to  have  adopted  it  as  a 
political  maxim,  "United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall," 


18  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

it  did  seem  as  if  nothing  but  insane  madness,  or  judi 
cial  blindness,  could  have  driven  us  into  a  civil  war. 

And  even  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  slavery,  the 
North  and  the  South  were  for  a  long  time  virtually  agreed. 
Slaves  were  introduced  here  by  the  British  Govern 
ment  while  we  were  colonies,  and  landed  in  Virginia 
before  Massachusetts  had  any  settlers.  Virginia  had 
petitioned  George  III.  to  prohibit  their  importation, 
instead  of  which  His  Majesty  gave  peremptory  orders 
to  the  Royal  Governor,  "not  to  assent  to  any  law 
of  the  Colonial  Legislature  by  which  the  importation 
of  slaves  should  in  any  respect  be  prohibited  or  ob 
structed."  The  institution  had  always  been  regarded 
by  most  people  as  something  wrong,  unchristian,  in 
human  ; — by  the  ablest  statesmen  as  an  unwise  policy, 
and  a  violation  of  the  most  fundamental  of  human 
rights ;  while  Christian  people  could  hardly  fail  to  see 
that  it  was  not  "  doing  to  others  as  we  would  have 
others  do  to  us,"  to  enslave  them. 

And  though  such  a  system  had  been  imposed  upon 
us,  and  transmitted  by  inheritance,  it  was  regarded  as 
a  natural  and  necessary  duty  to  alleviate  and  remove 
it.  It  was  hoped  and  expected  that  under  the  influ 
ence  of  advancing  civilization,  and  increasing  regard 
for  human  rights,  and  stronger  Christian  sentiment, 
slavery  would  be  done  away.  Especially  under  our 
new  Republic,  where  all  were  to  be  free  and  equal, 
it  was  to  be  assumed  that  such  oppression  could  not 
long  continue.  With  this  idea,  the-  framers  of  the 
Constitution  refused  to  admit  the  word  "  slave "  into 
that  sacred  instrument,  but  used  the  paraphrase  "  per 
sons  held  to  service,"  to  describe  slaves,  which  would 
be  unmeaning  when  such  a  class  ceased  to  exist. 
Such  was  the  hope  and  endeavor  not  only  of  Northern 
statesmen  like  John  Adams,  but  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  .  19 

a  Virginian,  as  well.  And  that  State,  be  it  forever 
remembered  to  her  honor,  in  order  to  found  such  a 
Republic  and  secure  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  not  only  gave  the  nation  the  Great  North 
west  Territory,  out  of  which  those  five  prosperous  States 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  have 
been  formed,  but  allowed  it  to  be  exclusively  and  forever 
dedicated  to  Freedom.  For  such  was  understood  to 
be,  and  was  undoubtedly  meant  to  be,  the  force  of 
that  brief  but  significant  clause  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787, 
for  the  government  of  that  Territory:  " There  shall  be 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said 
Territory."  The  attempt  to  break  down  that  barrier 
against  slavery  in  the  North,  and  the  repeated  and  suc 
cessful  attempts  to  modify  and  finally  to  do  away  with 
the  "  Missouri  Compromise  "  by  the  South,  have  been  the 
cause  of  nearly  all  our  sectional  strife. 

In  the  meantime  cotton  had  become  one  of  the  great 
staples  of  the  world,  and  as  few  countries  could  raise 
it,  and  the  blacks  were  best  able  to  bear  the  hot  climate 
that  produced  it,  slave  labor  was  at  a  premium.  The 
value  to  which  such  labor  attained  seems  incredible, 
yet  we  have  it  on  good  authority  that  the  slaves  of 
the  South  were  worth  in  the  market  two  thousand  mil 
lions  of  dollars.  Happily  the  North  had  no  such  motive 
to  justify  and  extend  slavery,  while  the  South  unfortu 
nately  fell  under  its  influence,  and  urged  on  a  course  of 
measures  which  brought  the  nation  to  the  verge  of  ruin, 
where  it  was  only  saved,  under  Providence,  when  the 
institution  itself  was  swept  away. 

These  measures  began  with  the  admission  of  Missouri 
into  the  Union.  The  great  Louisiana  Territory,  out  of 
which  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  Washington,  Oregon 


20  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  the  Indian  Territory,  have  already  been  organized, 
had  been  purchased  of  France  in  1803.  The  way  in 
which  it  came  to  us  reads  more  like  romance  than 
history.  Napoleon  I.  was  in  his  greatest  straits,  and 
expecting  that  England  would  fit  out  a  naval  expedition — 
where  he  was  the  weakest — and  take  possession  of  this 
valuable  province  of  France.  He  suddenly  decided,  in 
order  to  keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of  his  great  enemy, 
to  sell  it  to  us,  which  was  done  for  fifteen  millions 
of  dollars.  The  securing  of  it  at  this,  or  almost 
any  price,  when  it  was  "  held  by  the  greatest  military 
power  of  Europe,  and  coveted  by  the  greatest  naval 
power  of  the  world,"  is  a  high  tribute  to  the  wisdom 
and  statesmanship  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was  then  Pres 
ident.  Though  stoutly  opposed  and  bitterly  denounced 
for  it  by  the  partisans  of  that  day,  his  wise  and  com 
prehensive  statesmanship  in  this  matter,  not  only  gave 
us  our  broad  and  continental  Republic,  but  also  pre 
vented  our  being  hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  British 
territory,  and  confronted  on  the  other  by  England's 
formidable  navy.  Then  again,  no  such  motive  as  has 
influenced  presidential  administrations  since  that  time 
could  be  fairly  attributed  to  him  who  was,  if  we  mis 
take  not,  uniformly  and  consistently  opposed  to  the  per 
petuation  and  extension  of  slavery. 

Louisiana  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1812,  and  with 
slavery,  because  it  was  south  of  the  line  which  was  under 
stood  to  limit  it  on  the  north.  There  was  opposition  made 
to  it,  from  the  natural  reluctance  of  the  free  States  to  have 
a  system  extended  and  invigorated,  which  it  was  hoped 
would  die  out  eventually.  But  as  it  was  only  an  extension 
of  the  system  at  the  South  where  it  already  existed,  it  was 
acquiesced  in.  But  when  Missouri  applied  for  admission, 
with  her  great  territory — larger  in  area  than  all  New  Eng 
land,  and  lying  almost  wholly  north  of  the  line  of  the  Ohio 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  21 

river,  which  was  to  be  the  perpetual  limit  of  slavery  on 
that  side  of  the  Mississippi — the  discussion  of  the  whole  sub 
ject  came  up  anew  and  agitated  the  entire  country.  That 
line  was  understood  to  be,  and  was  certainly  meant  to  be, 
the  established  division  line  between  Freedom  and  Slaverv. 
The  North  had  confidence  in  the  superiority  of  Freedom 
over  Slavery  to  develop  the  population,  wealth,  intelligence 
and  virtue  of  a  community,  and  with  time  in  their  favor, 
they  were  patiently  awaiting  the  result.  And  this  measure 
was  regarded  as  a  deliberate  attempt  to  break  down  the 
established  barrier  against  all  the  evils  of  the  worst  institu 
tion  in  the  land.  After  three  years  of  discussion  and  delay, 
Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  slave  state,  but  at  the  same 
time  an  ordinance  was  enacted  that,  from  all  the  remainder 
of  that  territory  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  north  of 
the  parallel  of  86°  30°,  or  the  southern  boundary  of  the  new 
State,  slavery  should  be  forever  excluded,  as  from  all  north 
of  the  same  parallel  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  And 
though  this  was  to  be  a  slave  state,  and  lay  north  of  the 
established  line  between  Freedom  and  Slavery,  it  was  ac 
quiesced  in  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  with  the  expectation 
that  this  would  be  the  final  settlement  of  the  whole  matter. 
Nobody  proposed  then  to  break  up  that  whole  arrangement, 
agreed  upon  so  early  and  acted  upon  so  often  ;  certainly  no 
one  could  have  dreamed  that  this  whole  plan  would  ever  be 
repudiated,  and  pronounced  unconstitutional,  and  madly 
swept  away  to  extend  slavery.  This  was  the  famous  u  Mis 
souri  Compromise,"  upon  the  basis  of  which  the  matter 
was  adjusted  in  1820.  It  was  a  hard  compromise  for  the 
North.  This  is  where  disunion  virtually  commenced,  and 
went  on  until  it  terminated  in  secession  and  the  war. 

In  the  meantime  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  slave  state 
into  the  Union  (a  revolted  province  of  Mexico,  where  by 
the  laws  of  Mexico  slavery  was  prohibited),  and  the  war 
with  Mexico  into  which  we  were  led  to  acquire  more,  slave 


22  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

territory,  were  still  more  disturbing  to  the  North.     These 
things  showed  that  slavery  was  no  longer  to  be  any  mere 
local  institution,  and  subject  only  to  State  laws,  but  was  to 
be  .fostered,  extended,  and  perpetuated  by  the  whole  power 
of  the  general  government.     They  proved  how  groundless 
were  the  philanthropic  and  seemingly  reasonable  expecta 
tions  of  the  earlier  statesmen  of  the  Republic,  that  an  in 
stitution  thus  restricted  by  the  Constitution,  the  ordinances 
and  the  legislation  of  the  first  half-century  of  the  govern 
ment,  would  ever  die  out,  if  such  a  perversion  of  power  was 
allowed  for  its  support.     No  wonder  the   country  was  in 
tensely  agitated,  or  that  members  of  both  political  parties, 
and  some  even  from  the  slave  states,  should  protest  against 
it.     Hence  came  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso  of   1846,"  a  proviso 
moved    by     Mr.    Wilmot   of   Pennsylvania,  of   the    Plouse 
of  Representatives  in   Congress,  to  be   attached  to  a  bill 
appropriating  two    millions    for   the    acquisition    of  Mexi 
can  territory,  which  declared  it  to  be  "  an  express  and  fun 
damental  condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  from 
Mexico,  that  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall 
ever  exist  therein."       Mr.  Wilmot  is  said  to  have  been  an 
intense  partisan  of  the  Democratic  school,  a  firm  supporter 
of  the  administration  in  its  general  policy,  and  to  have  rep 
resented  a  strong  administration  district,  and  still  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  assert  that  this  money  was  wanted  to  secure 
more  slave  territory,  and   that  he   was  resolved  then  and 
there  to  make  a  stand  in  favor  of   u  Free  Soil."     The  bill 
was  long  and    ably   debated,  and   though  the   House  was 
democratic,  and  the  bill  supported  by  the  whole  power  of 
the  administration,  it  could  not  be  carried  through   that 
body  without   this  proviso.     This  was  the  rallying  point, 
and  the  rallying  cry  of  the  "  Free  Soil "  movement  that  fol 
lowed,  which  drew  to  its  ranks  so  many  from  all  parties,  and 
ultimately  won  its  victory  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
the  presidency.     It  shows  the  sober  sense  and  sturdy  priu- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  23 

•ciple  of  the  country, — which  no  sophistry  could  mislead  nor 
party  bonds  enslave,  nor  even  victories  in  war  and  acquisi 
tions  of  territory  satisfy, — that  the  Mexican  war  was  never- 
popular.  The  party  and  the  administration  which  origi 
nated  it  and  carried  it  on  successfully,  were  all  the  while 
losing  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  country.  The 
House  elected  in  the  ensuing  autumn  had  a  decided  ma 
jority  against  the  administration.  And  this,  as  has  been 
said,  "  was  the  first  and  only  time  in  our  political  history 
when  a  party  conducting  a  war  victorious  at  every  step, 
steadily  lost  ground  in  the  country."  In  regard  to  our 
little  respect  for  freedom  and  human  rights,  even  as  com 
pared  with  Mexico,  it  is  humiliating  to  read  that  :— 

"Every  acre  of  the  nine  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  this 
acquisition  was  free  territory  under  the  rule  of  Mexico,  and  the  com 
missioners  of  that  government  were  extremely  anxious  that  the 
United  States  should  give  a  guaranty  that  its  character  in  this  respect 
should  not  be  changed.  They  urged  that  to  see  slavery  recognized 
upon  soil  once  owned  by  Mexico  would  be  as  abhorrent  to  that  gov 
ernment  as  it  would  be  to  the  United  States  to  see  the  Spanish  In 
quisition  established  upon  it.  Mr.  Nicholas  P.  Trist,  our  American 
commissioner,  gave  a  reply  which  a  free  republic  reads  with  increas 
ing  amazement.  He  declared  that  if  the  territory  proposed  to  be 
ceded  to  us,  were  ten  fold  as  valuable,  and  in  addition  to  that  was 
covered  a  foot  thick  with  pure  gold,  on  the  single  condition  that 
slavery  should  be  forever  excluded,  he  would  not  entertain  the  offer 
for  a  moment,  nor  even  think  of  sending  it  to  his  government.  No 
American  President  would  dare  submit  such  a  treaty  to  the  Senate." 
Mr.  Elaine's  "  Twenty  Yearn  of  Congress,"  vol.  /,  p.  74. 

Another  concession  made  to  the  South  was  the  infamous 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  a  law  which  denied  to  the  fugitive  any 
trial  by  jury, — aright  granted  to  every  citizen  for  a  claim  of 
more  than  twenty  dollars, — left  his  personal  liberty  to  be 
decided  peremptorily  by  a  United  States  Commissioner 
without  appeal,  provided  no  penalty  for  perjury,  but  did 
subject  to  heavy  penalties  those  who  sheltered  a  fugitive,  or 
ventured  to  protect  him  from  injustice  and  violence.  "  By 
this  law,  the  body,  the  life,  the  very  soul  of  a  man,  posoibly 


24  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

a  freeborn  citizen,  might  be  consigned  to  perpetual  en 
slavement  on  the  fallible  judgment  of  a  single  official." 
Even  the  paltry  bribe  was  held  out  to  such  official  that  if  he 
remanded  the  alleged  fugitive  to  slavery  he  should  receive 
a  fee  of  ten  dollars,  but  if  he  adjudged  him  free,  it  should 
only  be  five.  Then  as  if  to  make  it  as  humiliating 
and  insulting  as  possible  to  the  Free  States,  whose  citizens 
abhorred  slavery,  and  had  forever  prohibited  it  within  their 
own  borders  so  far  as  it  could  be  done  by  their  own  laws 
and  judicial  decisions,  this  law  demanded  of  them  acquies 
cence,  approval,  assistance  in  this  business.  When  Chris 
tianity  puts  the  question  which  admits  of  but  one  answer  : 
"  How  much  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep  ? "  when  Juda 
ism  that  had  to  deal  with  a  rude  people,  according  to  the 
imperfect  ideas  of  that  age,  commanded  "  Thou  shalt  not 
deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant  which  is  escaped,"  and 
when  every  instinct  of  humanity  and  justice  forbid  our 
helping  to  enslave  again  one  who  has  secured  his  own  free 
dom,  what  infatuation  to  expect  that  a  nation  of  freemen 
were  going  to  help  enforce  a  law  like  that ! 

Then  came  the  Dred  Scott  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  President  Buchanan  made  such  use  of  in  his  attempt 
to  fasten  slavery  upon  Kansas.  Though  the  case  to  be 
decided  was  only  ti  question  of  personal  liberty,  this  court 
took  occasion  to  go  further  and  decide  that  slavery  was  not 
a  local  institution,  and  the  creature  of  local  laws,  as  had 
hitherto  been  supposed  and  acted  upon  in  all  our  state  and 
general  legislation,  but  had  a  right  to  exist  everywhere  and 
in  spite  of  local  laws  ;  that  the  act  of  Congress  prohibiting 
slavery  in  the  territories  north  of  36°  30°  was  unconstitu 
tional,  and  the  Missouri  Compromise  justly  repealed  it ; 
that  slave  property  was  as  much  entitled  to  protection  in 
the  national  domain  as  any  other  property ;  that  Congress 
had  no  right  to  shut  it  out  from  the  District  of  Columbia, 
or  any  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States ;  and  in  short, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  25 

that  the  hlacks,  so  far  from  being  included  in  the  "  all 
men  "  wiih  certain  "  incalculable  rights,"  referred  to  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Constitution,  were  re 
garded  at  the  time  as  "  so  far  inferior  that  they  had  no 
rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  It  was 
a  bitter  disappointment  to  the  people  of  the  North  to  find 
that  after  all  their  patient  waiting  in  hopes  of  removing 
slavery  by  demonstrating  the  superiority  of  freedom,  this 
institution  was  to  be  forever  imposed  upon  them,  and  that 
it  had  been  read  into  the  Constitution  by  a  sympathizing 
bench  of  judges,  from  which  instrument  it  had  been  so  con 
scientiously  excluded.  They  saw  the  very  barriers  which 
Virginia  and  Mr.  Jefferson  had  helped  to  rear  against 
slavery,  torn  down  by  Southern  hands,  and  by  men  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  political  principles.  They  were  indignant  as 
well  as  disappointed,  and  became  satisfied  that  more  deter 
mined  steps  must  be  taken  for  the  protection  of  their  own 
rights  and  the  rights  of  others,  if  any  liberty  was  to  be  left 
to  anybody  in  our  boasted  Republic.  As  showing  how  this 
decision  was  regarded  at  the  North,  the  New  York  Legisla 
ture  immediately  enacted  that  neither  color  nor  African 
descent  should  disqualify  from  citizenship  ;  that  every  slave 
brought  by  his  master  into  the  State  should  become  free ; 
that  any  attempt  to  retain  such  persons  as  slaves  should  be 
punished  by  from  two  to  ten  years  imprisonment.  It 
passed  a  resolution  also  declaring  that  the  Supreme  Court 
had  lost  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  people. 

Then  came  the  Kansas  troubles.  The  territory  of  Kan 
sas  was  open  to  settlement,  and  the  slave  state  of  Missouri 
on  the  east  was  determined  that  it  should  not  become 
a  free  state.  The  first  settlers  of  Lawrence,  while  still 
living  in  tents,  were  visited  by  a  band  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  armed  Missourians,  and  ordered  to  leave  the  territory. 
They  were  expecting  this,  and  were  themselves  armed,  and 
so  they  did  not  leave.  The  town,  however,  was  afterwards 


26  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

twice  beseiged  and  burned,  while  other  towns  were  repeat 
edly  raided  upon,  and  some  of  them  partially  destroyed. 
The  free-state  men  were  not  allowed  to  vote,  but  the  polls 
were  either  broken  up  by  armed  Missourians,  or  such  men 
did  the  voting.  The  Territorial  Legislature  was  disturbed, 
and  on  one  pretence  and  another  its  officers  and  members 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned.  And  on  one  occasion  when 
a  delegate  was  to  be  elected  to  Congress,  the  Missourians 
poured  over  the  borders  and  returned  three  thousand  votes 
for  their  pro-slavery  candidate  when  there  were  not  half  that 
number  of  voters  in  the  whole  territory.  Successive  Con 
stitutions  for  the  organization  of  a  State  were  voted  upon, 
and  submitted  to  Congress,  but  they  were  either  so  favor 
able  to  freedom,  or  the  voting  was  so  flagrantly  fraudulent, 
that  even  pro-slavery  Congress  dared  not  impose  them  on 
the  State  without  submitting  them  to  the  people  again, 
where  a  Slave  Constitution  was  sure  to  be  rejected.  The 
Lecompton  Constitution,  the  worst  of  all,  and  the  most 
fraudulent  in  its  conception  and  pretended  adoption  was 
drawn  up  by  a  convention  never  authorized  by  the  people, 
forbade  free  blacks  to  live  in  the^  State,  allowed  slavery, 
prohibited  emancipation,  conferred  on  slaveholders  all  the 
immunities  of  the  worst  slave  codes,  and  declared  these 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  inviolable,  and  that  no  change 
whatever  should  be  made  in  it  for  a  number  of  years. 
Then  the  question  of  slavery  was  not  fairly  submitted  to 
the  people,  for  they  must  vote  for  the  Constitution  with 
slavery  and  all  these  objectionable  provisions,  or  else  have 
no  state  organization.  Nor  was  this  all ;  a  bribe  was  offered 
of  a  large  land  grant  made  to  depend  upon  the  adoption 
of  this  particular  Constitution.  The  people  had  already 
decided  the  question  of  slavery,  by  the  most  peaceful  and 
undisputed  election  they  ever  held,  and  the  free-state  men, 
by  a  majority  of  two  to  one,  had  carried  both  houses  of  the 
Legislature  in  favor  of  freedom,  yet  this  victory  was 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  27 

•snatched  from  them  by  fraudulent  returns.  From  a  single 
precinct  of  only  eleven  houses  a  return  was  sent  in,  and 
accepted,  with  the  names  of  1,624  persons,  copied  in  alpha 
betical  order  from  the  Cincinnati  directory.  One  of  the 
facetious  and  truthful  representations  of  that  election  was 
the  affidavit  of  Horace  Greeley,  denying  with  all  the  for 
mality  and  solemnity  of  such  an  instrument,  that  he  ever 
voted  at  Kickapoo,  where  his  name  was  found  recorded 
by  the  side  of  James  Buchanan,  William  H.  Seward  and 
others. 

And  yet  in  spite  of  this  remonstrance  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  and  such  fraudulent  returns  of  their  voting,  and  so 
many  objectionable  provisions  in  the  Constitution  itself,  it 
was  transmitted  to  Congress,  accompanied  by  a  message 
from  President  Buchanan  recommending  the  prompt  admis 
sion  of  the  State.  The  Lecompton  Bill  passed  the  Senate, 
but  it  could  not  pass  the  House  without  modifications,  and 
without  having  the  Constitution  submitted  once  more  to  the 
people,  where  it  was  rejected,  land  grant  and  all,  by  a 
majority  of  more  than  ten  thousand.  "  The  whole  contriv 
ance,"  as  Mr.  Blaine  has  characterized  it,"  was  fraudulent, 
wicked,  and  in  retrospect  incredible.  It  is  not  possible, 
without  using  language  that  would  seem  immoderate,  to 
describe  the  enormity  of  the  whole  transaction.  That  Con 
stitution  no  more  represented  the  will  or  the  wishes  of  the 
people  of  Kansas,  than  the  people  of  Ohio  or  Vermont." 
But  this  action  of  Congress  divided  and  broke  down  the 
Democratic  party.  It  united  the  North  in  opposition  to 
slavery  as  nothing  else  could  have  done.  It  organized  the 
Republican  party,  and  drew  all  the  elements  of  opposition 
to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  that  party.  "  This  effort  to 
make  Kansas  a  slave  state  resulted  in  not  only  making  it 
free,  but  the  most  tenacious  Republican  state  in  the  Union." 
It  secured  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  the  next  President. 

Thus  the  iinal  struggle  of  slavery  for  the  control  of  the 


28  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

government  and  the  extension  of  its  system  brought  its  own 
undoing.  The  free  states  at  last  stood  together  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  extension  of  slavery  in  defiance  of  every  compro 
mise  and  arrangement  to  save  the  institution.  They  ap 
pealed  to  the  nation,  resorted  to  the  polls,  elected  a 
different  President,  and  changed  the  administration  of  the 
government.  This  ought  to  have  settled  the  matter,  and 
secured  a  change  of  national  policy,  as  it  always  had  done. 

But  these  were  differences  as  fundamental,  as  essen 
tially  opposed  to  each  other,  as  light  and  darkness,  truth 
and  falsehood,  right  and  wrong,  where  no  adjustments  and 
compromises  can  be  permanent,  since  "  nothing  is  settled 
until  it  is  settled  right."  Here  is  where  Mr.  Seward's 
"  irrepressible  conflict  "  was  taking  place,  and  what  Mr. 
Lincoln  styled  "  a  house  divided  against  itself,"  which  could 
not  stand.  These  were  the  convictions  which  such  men 
were  so  much  censured  for  uttering,  as  if  they  wanted  to 
bring  about  the  catastrophe  they  were  only  anxious  to  avert. 
But  they  knew  what  the  result  of  such  differences  had  been 
and  foresaw  what  they  must  be  until,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  ex 
plained  himself,  "  The  nation  must  become  all  one  thingt 
or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  Slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of 
ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward 
until  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well 
as  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 

It  is  easy  to  say  that  such  a  violent  settlement  of  the 
matter  might  have  been  avoided,  which  is  true  if  the  slave 
states  would  have  adhered  honestly  to  their  original  con 
tract  with  the  free  states,  and  let  freedom  fairly  gain  the 
ascendency  as  it  was  doing,  and  bless  the  slave  states  as  it 
had  their  neighbors.  Or  it  might  have  been  accomplished 
if  the  slaves  had  all  been  purchased  and  emancipated  by 
the  General  Government,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  attempted  to  buy 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  29 

off  the  border  slave  states  from  the  Confederacy.  What  if 
it  had  cost  th*  four  hundred  millions  at  which  they  were 
valued,  or  even  twice  that  sum  ;  how  cheap  compared  with 
the  mere  money  cost  of  the  war.  But  this  was  not  to  be, 
and  without  doubt  the  means  resorted  to  were  the  only  ones 
that  could  effectually  prevent  all  new  disputes  and  com 
promises,  and  after  punishing  us  sufficiently  for  our  conniv 
ance  with  such  a  system  of  oppression  and  degradation, 
assuredly  prevent  all  desire  from  any  quarter  to  have  the 
system  back  again.  Certain  it  is  that  it  brought  into 
striking  and  humiliating  contrast  our  claim  to  be  a  free 
and  independent  Republic,  where  all  are  entitled  to  "  life, 
liberty  and  pursuit  of  happiness,"  as  compared  with  an 
actual  enslavement  of  so  many  millions  capable  like  our 
selves  of  intellectual  and  moral  ennoblement,  but  scarcely 
allowed  any  one  of  these  "  inalienable  rights."  Besides 
such  "  times  of  ignorance  as  God  winked  at,"  when  it  was 
deemed  right  to  sell  into  slavery,  and  even  put  to  death 
every  captive  taken  in  war,  and  when  only  two  centuries 
before  Christian  England  did  not  scruple  to  carry  on  the 
African  Slave  Trade : — these  times  had  passed  away,  and 
God  was  "  commanding  all  men  everywhere  to  repent." 
And  in  the  light  of  a  purer  Christianity,  and  a  higher  civi 
lization,  and  a  greater  regard  for  human  rights,  our  con 
sciences  were  more  sensitive  to  such  a  crime,  and  we  could 
not  fail  to  hear  ringing  in  our  ears  as  the  voice  of  God— 
"  Let  my  people  go."  The  question  at  issue  had  ceased  to 
be  merely  a  political  one;  it  was  fearfully  moral,  as  we  were 
compelled  to  feel  when  we  were  all  so  scourged  for  our  con 
nection  with  it.  This  religious  conviction  and  moral  senti 
ment  were  the  reliance  of  the  free  states  when  the  crisis 
came,  and  this  moral  sentiment  buoyed  us  up  when  the 
struggle  was  severest  and  the  times  darkest.  It  was  such 
principles  that,  overlooking  the  interests  of  trade,  the  con 
sideration  of  friendship,  party  connections,  and  all  else  as 


30  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

compared  with  the  claims  of  duty,  justice,  humanity,  Chris 
tianity,  neither  fainted  nor  faultered  till  the  work  was 
accomplished. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things,  and  such  the  appeal  made 
to  the  country  by  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  President 
Buchanan's  administration ;  so  that  the  next  three  years — 
1858-59-60 — were  the  period  of  deepest  interest,  greatest 
excitement,  most  earnest  discussion,  and  determined  energy 
in  public  affairs,  that  the  country  ever  witnessed.  These 
were  the  years  which  immediately  preceded  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election,  and  which  were  to  be  followed  so  soon  by  the 
breaking  out  of  our  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER  II. 
MR.  BUCKINGHAM'S  ELECTION  IN  1858. 

Financial  and  Social  Troubles  of  the  Time — Events  of  the  Next  Two 
Years,  Leading  to  the  Election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Outbreak 
of  the  War — Governor  Buckingham's  Messages  During  the  Period 
and  His  Recognition  of  the  Real  Situation. 

In  the  spring  of  1858,  the  political  outlook  of  the  coun 
try  was  most  threatening  and  its  financial  affairs  seemed 
in  the  worst  possible  condition.  The  currency  was  in  a 
very  bad  state.  Instead  of  our  present  banking  system, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  President  Lincoln's  admin 
istration,  and  particularly  to  Mr.  Chase,  his  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  every  State  had  its  own  system  of 
banking.  The  bills  of  one  State  might  not  pass  current 
elsewhere,  or  if  they  did  it  might  be  at  a  discount,  in 
stead  of  being  as  they  now  are  current  and  of  their  face 
value  everywhere.  Then  there  had  been  a  suspension 
of  specie  payment  throughout  the  country.  There  was 
great  business  embarrassment  everywhere,  and  the  fail 
ure  of  the  Life  &  Trust  Company  of  New  York  city, 
the  largest  institution  of  the  kind  in  the  country,  caused 
a  panic  which  brought  on  the  worst  financial  crisis  we 
have  ever  passed  through,  unless  it  was  the  one  in  1837. 
A  convention  of  banking  and  business  men  had  been 
called  in  Connecticut,  of  which  Mr.  Buckingham  was 
a  member,  where  it  is  said  his  knowledge  of  such  sub 
jects  so  favorably  impressed  that  body,  as  to  make  his 
nomination  most  acceptable  to  the  business  interests  of 
the  State.  That  it  might  well  have  done  so,  is  evident 
from  the  attention  he  gave  to  those  matters  when  he 


32 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


became  Governor.  His  first  message  to  the  Legislature  de 
voted  a  considerable  space  to  considerations  and  recommen 
dations  upon  the  subject  of  banking  and  the  currency,  though 
the  improvements  soon  made  in  the  national  banking  sys 
tem  must  have  removed  the  necessity  for  State  action  upon 
most  of  them.  The  threatening  aspect  of  public  affairs  also 
called  for  a  wise  and  reliable  man  at  the  head  of  the  State, 
even  if  he  was  not  an  experienced  statesman,  and  certainly 
demanded  something  more  than  any  mere  politician,  how 
ever  able.  Then  one  was  needed  who,  in  the  breaking  up 
and  readjustment  of  parties,  should  claim  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  all  parties,  and  around  whom,  in  case  the 
determination  to  nationalize  slavery  should  continue  and 
lead  to  civil  war,  all  patriots  and  lovers  of  liberty  could 
rally,  as  they  so  nobly  did.  The  Springfield  Republican, 
then  as  now  an  independent  and  able  paper,  and  watching 
from  an  adjoining  State  the  course  of  things  in  Connecticut, 
thus  puts  the  matter  at  the  opening  of  the  year,  and  com 
mends  the  nomination  made  for  governor  :— 

"Such  a  money  panic  was  never  witnessed  before,  and  has  not 
stopped  in  this  country,  but  has  swept  over  Europe  uproDting  all  our 
theories  and  affecting  all  monetary  systems  alike,  coming  and  going 
like  a  scourge  sent  for  a  purpose  from  heaven.  There  is  no  comfort  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  serious  changes  of  the  last  year,  save  in  the 
belief  of  an  overwhelming  providence,  and  faith  in  the  world's  progress. 

"Mr.  William  A.  Buckingham,  who  is  nominated  for  governor  by 
the  Republicans,  is  a  leading,  liberal  citizen,  and  wealthy  manufac 
turer  of  Norwich.  He  has  intelligence,  integrity,  and  practical  ability, 
which  is  creditable  to  the  party  to  have  recognized  in  his  nomination, 
and  his  election  will  be  an  honor  to  the  State.  The  proportion  of  such 
men  in  our  politics  is  only  too  small.  Mr.  Buckingham  was  a  Whig, 
and  passed  from  that  organization,  upon  its  death,  to  the  Republicans 
without  turning  aside  from  the  straight  path  to  dally  with  American 
ism."  (January  15,  1858.) 

He  was  elected  Governor  by  a  fair  majority  where  parties 
were  so  evenly  divided.  His  majority  at  this  first  election 
was  2,449,  and  his  plurality  2,753,  a  larger  plurality  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  33 

majority  than  had  been  concentrated  upon  one  candidate 
in  opposition  to  the  Democratic  party  since  1849.  The 
Legislature  also  by  this  election  became  largely  Republican 
in  both  branches.  His  inauguration  took  place  at  New 
Haven.  The  State  then  had  two  capitals,  one  at  New 
Haven  and  the  other  at  Hartford,  growing  out  of  the  fact 
that  the  State  was  made  up  of  the  two  original  colonies  of 
New  Haven  arid  Connecticut.  The  election  of  State  officers 
and  members  of  the  Legislature  took  place  in  April,  and 
the  Governor  was  inaugurated  the  first  Wednesday  in  May. 
Occurring  at  this  pleasant  season  of  the  year,  the  occasion 
became  a  State  holiday,  and  the  capitals  vied  with  each 
other  in  making  the  pageant  beautiful  and  imposing.  Each 
city  had  its  company  of  the  Governor's  Horse  Guard  and 
Foot  Guard,  dating  back  in  their  organization  to  colonial 
times,  the  First  (Hartford)  Company  of  the  Foot  Guards 
wearing  the  English  Grenadier  uniform  of  that  period. 
More  or  less  volunteer  companies  and  State  troops  took 
part  in  the  parade,  and  during  the  war,  when  regiments 
were  being  organized  and  sent  into  the  field,  and  when 
some  of  them  were  returning,  these  were  used  to  increase  the 
display,  so  that  no  native  of  the  State,  who  ever  witnessed 
one  of  those  parades,  can  fail  to  remember  it  pleasantly 
and  with  a  thrill  of  patriotism.  The  Governor  on  horse 
back,  in  his  citizen's  suit  of  black,  and  distinguished  by  this- 
and  the  simple  rosette  upon  his  hat,  amid  his  well-mounted 
and  brilliant  military  staff ;  the  General  also  of  the  State 
troops  with  his  own  brilliant  staff ;  the  civil  authorities  and 
guests  of  the  occasion  in  carriages  ;  the  long  procession  in 
motion  with  glittering  arms  and  nodding  plumes  and  in 
spiring  music  ;  the  streets  lined  with  people  ;  the  dooryardsr 
steps,  windows  and  every  available  place  for  observation,  flut 
tering  with  flags  and  handkerchiefs,  and  the  procession 
cheering  as  it  passed,  and  all  amid  ringing  bells  and  booming 
cannon ;  was  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten  by  any  Connec- 


34  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ticut  born  man  or  woman.  However  far  he  might  move 
away  and  settle,  the  mere  mention  of  u  Election  Day  "  in 
Connecticut,  would  light  up  his  face  and  warm  his  heart 
toward  the  State  that  bore  him,  and  encourage  him  to  help 
build  up  a  "  New  Connecticut"  elsewhere,  whether  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Erie,  or  still  further  west.  For  with  years 
and  reflection,  that  "  Election  Day  "  would  mean  more  than 
a  mere  gala  day.  It  would  represent  the  result  of  a  popu 
lar  election  of  the  highest  officers  and  legislators  of  the 
State,  and  the  ready  acquiescence  of  both  parties  and  all 
parties  in  it.  It  would  represent  the  military  power  as  sub 
ordinate  to  the  civil,  and  in  the  person  of  that  citizen 
Governor,  see  soldiery  recognizing  in  him  their  command- 
er-in-chief,  and  never  dreaming  of  aught  but  obedience. 
And  it  would  represent  also  a  state  of  society,  and  of  pub 
lic  sentiment,  where  the  people  govern  themselves,  and 
look  after  all  the  great  interests  of  the  community,  as  well 
as  stand  ready  to  put  down  insurrection  or  sedition,  and 
defend  the  general  government  in  time  of  foreign  or 
civil  war. 

After  the  parade  was  over,  and  the  Legislature'  was 
organized,  the  two  bodies  met  in  convention  to  receive  the 
Governor's  Message.  This  message  we  give  in  part,  as 
showing  what  he  regarded  as  the  great  interests  of  the 
State,  and  also  his  attitude  in  regard  to  the  great  question 
which  was  then  agitating  the  country,  and  was  so  soon  to 
involve  us  in  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 

MR.  PRESIDENT:  MR.  SPEAKER  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY:  — 

The  Constitution  of  our  State  and  the  suffrages  of  our  fellow 
citizens,  have  made  it  my  duty  to  inform  you  of  "  the  state  of  our 
Government,  and  to  recommend  to  your  consideration  such  measures 
as  I  shall  deem  expedient."  This  duty  I  shall  now  attempt  toper- 
form  with  proper  brevity. 

Legislation  should  be  such  as  will  tend  to  check  crime;  bring  to 
speedy  justice  the  violators  of  law;  preserve  the  purity  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  35 

ballot-box;  place  in  a  desirable  position  public  institutions;  lead 
citizens  to  feel  a  stronger  attachment  to  the  National  Union;  give 
the  greatest  liberty  under  the  restraints  of  law;  and  lead  to  the 
enactments  of  such  statutes  only  as  are  based  upon  the  Divine  Law. 
Such  legislation  for  our  State  will  lead  us  to  respect  ourselves, 
entitle  us  to  the  esteem  of  the  good,  and  give  us  an  influence  such  as 
a  people  under  our  institutions  and  laws  ought  to  exert. 

After  showing  the  condition  of  "  public  finances,"  recom 
mending  that  they  be  controlled  by  the  principles  of  "  rigid 
economy,  without  parsimony,"  he  treats  of  the  common 
schools  and  the  school  fund  ;  the  State  Normal  school  and 
the  State  Reform  school ;  the  condition  and  maintenance 
of  the  militia  system ;  the  provision  that  should  be  made 
for  the  idiotic,  the  insane,  the  blind,  and  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
He  next  makes  recommendations  in  regard  to  joint  stock 
companies  and  railroad  companies ;  and  then,  as  has  been 
said,  considers  quite  at  length  the  condition  of  the  banks 
and  their  currency,  and  proposes  a  number  of  specific  enact 
ments  which  he  deems  necessary  for  the  safety  of  these 
institutions  and  the  security  of  the  public.  Then  coining 
to  national  affairs,  and  the  critical  position  in  which  the 
country  stands,  he  takes  his  own  stand,  and  where  he  would 
rally  the  State  around  him,  as  follows  :— 

The  question  of  slavery  extension  still  agitates  the  mind  and  dis 
turbs  the  peace  of  the  nation,  threatens  the  rights  of  the  States  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  Union.  This  agitation  has  been  renewed 
with  every  effort  to  extend  the  institution  into  the  territories,  or  to 
shield  it  there  under  the  constitution  of  our  confederacy. 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  and  the  effort  to  bring 
the  people  of  Kansas  under  the  government  of  a  constitution  which 
they  have  never  approved,  I  regard  as  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
present  agitation. 

The  chief  executive  officer  of  our  national  government  has  declared 
that  ':  slavery  existed  in  Kansas  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  Kansas  is  at  this  moment  as  much  a  slave  state  as  Georgia 
or  South  Carolina.  Take  these  declarations  in  connection  with  the 
use  which  the  administration  has  made  of  the  array  of  the  United 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

States;  with  the  disregard  of  the  pledges  of  popular  sovereignty,  and 
to  submit  the  question  of  slavery  to  the  decision  of  the  people  of 
Kansas  without  any  restriction  or  qualification,  and  in  connection 
with  the  efforts  which  the  administration  has  made  to  have  that  ter 
ritory  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  under  the  Lecompton  Con 
stitution,  and  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  minds  of  our  citizens  are 
filled  with  apprehension  for  the  future  peace  and  welfare  of  the 
nation.  If  the  course  which  the  administration  has  pursued  on  these 
subjects  shall  be  regarded  as  a  precedent  for  the  future,  it  may  cause 
questions  to  arise  between  the  States  and  the  national  government, 
which  will  still  more  seriously  disturb  our  tranquillity;  questions 
having  reference  to  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  powers  of  the 
government. 

We  look  in  vain  to  find  a  clause  in  the  Constitution  recognizing 
slavery  in  the  territories.  It  exists  in  the  States  because  it  is  the 
creature  of  local  laws.  If  we  go  back  to  the  formation  of  the  general 
government,  we  find  that  the  convention  that  framed  the  Constitution, 
and  Congress,  were  in  session  at  the  same  time.  Questions  which 
related  to  slavery  perplexed  and  retarded  the  action  of  both  bodies. 
But  they  acted  in  concert,  and  it  was  well  understood  that  the  pro 
vision  in  the  Constitution  for  delivering  up  on  claim  persons  held  to 
service  in  one  State  and  escaping  into  another,  was  made  for  the  pur 
pose  of  satisfying  those  States  which  were  not  then  in  favor  of  taking 
measures  to  abolish  slavery,  and  that  in  consideration  of  such  pro 
visions  they  conceded  to  the  government  the  right  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  the  common  territories.  At  the  very  time  the  ordinance  of  1787  was. 
adopted  by  Congress,  prohibiting  involuntary  servitude  except  for 
crime,  in  all  the  territories  which  belonged  to  the  general  govern 
ment.  This  was  regarded  by  all  as  a  solemn  compact  which  was  to 
remain  forever  inviolable.  For  sixty  years  after  that  time  the  legisla 
tion  of  Congress  recognized  the  existence  of  full  constitutional  powers 
to  prohibit  this  institution  in  the  territories.  The  doctrine  that 
power  to  prohibit  slavery  carries  with  it  the  power  to  establish  it,  is 
of  recent  date,  and  in  conflict  with  the  views  of  those  who  partic 
ipated  in  the  formation  of  the  Federal  government. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  effort  made  to 
establish  slavery  north  of  that  line,  in  a  territory  which  had  been 
devoted  to  freedom,  has  opened  the  question  of  extending  freedom 
south  of  that  line,  in  a  territory  which  had  been  devoted  to  slavery. 
The  struggle  now  is  to  determine  whether  the  Constitution  which 
was  ordained  to  establish  liberty  shall  be  perverted  to  establish 
slavery. 

The  agitation  which  this  subject  has  caused  is  deeply  to  be  regretted ; 
but  I  do  not  believe  it  will  cease  until  we  shall  "  allow  the  States  to 
regulate  their  own  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,"  cease  to 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  37 

use  our  federal  powers  to  establish  and  extend  the  system  of  human 
bondage;  return  to  and  be  governed  by  the  principles  upon  which  the 
government  was  founded.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  American 
people  cease  to  agitate  this  subject,  and  peace  be  restored  to  our 
whole  country. 

I  have  endeavored  to  present  these  subjects  without  party  prejudice. 
Parties  rise  and  fall,  and  are  forgotten,  but  principles  involving  our 
business  and  our  civil  liberty,  rest  not  upon  the  changing  foundation 
of  political  party.  They  are  as  enduring  as  eternal  right.  If  the 
government  of  our  State  shall  be  administered  upon  these  principles, 
it  will  secure  the  temporal  prosperity  of  our  people  and  lead  them  to 
appreciate  more  highly  our  common  Christianity  as  the  medium  of 
our  blessings  and  the  foundation  of  our  hopes. 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

JVeio  Haven,  May  5,  1858. 


Governor  Buckingham  was  re-elected  in  1859.  The  ad 
ministration  of  his  office  had  made  the  people  better 
acquainted  with  him,  and  seems  to  have  increased  their 
respect  and  confidence  in  him,  so  that  when  the  State  con 
vention  came  together  in  January,  he  was  readily  renomi- 
nated  and  in  April  elected.  As  showing  the  state  of  polit 
ical  parties,  and  where  the  strength  of  the  Governor  lay,  the 
Springfield  Republican  says  of  the  last  State  election  :— 

"  The  cities  and  large  towns  of  Connecticut  are  generally  against 
the  Republicans,  except  Norwich  and  New  London.  Hartford 
and  New  Haven  are  both  Democratic,  so  are  Middletown  and  Water- 
bury.  New  London  and  Windham  counties  constitute  the  Eepublican 
strongholds,  and  can  give  one  thousand  Republican  majority.  Litch- 
lield  county,  eminently  the  agricultural  region,  with  hills  and  iron 
-ore,  and  the  birthplace  of  the  Beechers,  comes  next  with  five  hundred 
Republican  majority.  The  nominal  Republican  supremacy  in  the 
government  is  not  so  great  as  heretofore,  but  it  never  was  held  so 
firmly,  with  greater  moral  and  intellectual  strength  than  now.  The 
severity  and  closeness  of  the  struggle  in  the  recent  election,  and  the 
very  intestine  troubles  which  accompanied  it,  have  consolidated  the 
party,  and  confirmed  its  power  beyond  all  ordinary  dispute  here 
after.  Mischievous  elements,  both  of  individuals  and  of  factions, 
have  been  crushed  out,  and  with  new  and  abler  representative  men, 
and  broader  and  more  popular  principles,  it  has  placed  itself  on  a 
vantage  ground  that  it  never  before  occupied. 


38  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  Governor's  message  this  year  shows  his  attitude 
and  that  of  the  State  toward  the  great  issue  then  before 
the  country: — 

The  President,  in  his  late  message  to  Congress,  urges  the  purchase 
or,  if  necessary,  the  conquest  of  Cuba  with  a  zeal  worthy  of  an  object 
as  high  and  as  noble  as  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  and  the  civili 
zation  and  Christianization  of  benighted  Africa.  He  argues  that  the 
geographical  position  of  that  island  is  such,  that  so  long  as  it  remains 
in  possession  of  a  foreign  power,  our  commerce  will  be  exposed  to  per 
petual  injury  and  annoyance  in  time  of  peace,  and  to  destruction  in 
war;  and  he  asks  that  an  appropriation  of  money  be  made,  and  power 
placed  in  his  hands  to  negotiate  for  its  purchase. 

The  President  also  asks  for  authority  to  employ,  at  his  discretion, 
the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  for  the  protection  of 
American  citizens  in  traveling  through  foreign  countries,  and  sustains 
his  application  by  examples  drawn  from  the  executive  departments 
of  France  and  other  imperial  governments  possessing  the  war-making 
power.  Kindred  in  character  to  the  foregoing,  is  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  President  that  the  government  assume  a  protectorate  and 
establish  military  posts  within  the  limits  of  a  weak  but  independent 
nation.  These  views  carried  out  would  place  our  army  and  navy 
under  the  orders  of  the  President,  in  all  parts  of  the  world;  and 
yielding  to  others  the  same  rights  we  claim  for  ourselves,  would  open 
our  country  to  the  armies  of  every  other  nation. 

The  conclusion  which  the  mind  would  naturally  and  rapidly  reach 
from  this  view  of  the  subject  is,  whenever  we  judge  any  country  or 
colony,  either  now  or  prospectively,  endangers  our  commerce,  we  may 
negotiate  for  its  purchase,  and  if  unsuccessful,  be  justified  in  taking 
possession  by  force,  in  accordance  with  the  despotic  maxim  that 
"  might  makes  right/' 

This  struggle  for  the  concentration  of  power  in  the  President,  or 
the  central  power,  is  seriously  agitating  the  minds  of  the  American 
people.  They  believe  that  it  is  to  have,  and  is  intended  to  have,  a 
controlling  influence  in  the  all-absorbing  question  of  slavery.  On  the 
one  hand  they  are  advocating  and  on  the  other  opposing  it,  with  a 
zeal  and  energy  which  show  how  deep  is  the  interest  they  feel  in  the 
iinal  issue. 

The  citizens  of  Connecticut  regard  slavery  as  a  system  that  para 
lyzes  industry,  dries  up  the  sources  of  prosperity,  obstructs  the 
wheels  of  progress  in  the  cause  of  education,  civilization  and  Chris 
tianity,  and  conflicts  irreconcilably  with  the  principles  of  human 
liberty..  They  regard  it  as  the  creature  of  local  laws,  having  no 
rightful  existence  beyond  State  boundaries;  and  while  they  will 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  £9 

counteract  no  interference  with  it,  as  it  exists  within  the  limits  of 
our  sister  States,  they  will  never  acquiesce  in  its  extension  by  the 
general  government,  without  entering  their  solemn  protest  against 
the  exercise  of  powers  so  maintained  by  the  Constitution,  and  so 
hazardous  to  the  tranquility  of  the  Union. 

Here  is  clearly  and  temperately  stated  the  great  question 
at  issue  between  the  free  States  and  the  slave  States,  and 
the  position  assumed  by  one  of  the  former,  just  as  the 
country  was  about  to  be  plunged  into  all  the  perplexities  of 
disunion,  and  the  horrors  of  a  fearful  war.  Whatever  dif 
ferences  of  opinion  there  were  about  the  right  position  then 
there  are  none  now.  And  all  honor  to  the  State  that  could 
so  early  comprehend  the  real  issues  of  that  controversy,  and 
so  nobly  stood  by  the  principles  of  freedom  and  righteous 
ness  to  the  end ! 

These  last  two  years  of  1858  and  1859  had  been  years 
of  intense  interest  and  earnest  discussion  throughout  the 
country.  Ever  since  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
in  1854,  and  the  Dred-Scott  Decision  which  justified  it  in 
1857,  and  the  attempt  of  President  Buchanan's  administra 
tion,  as  soon  as  he  was  inaugurated,  to  bring  Kansas  into 
the  Union  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the  subject 
of  slavery  had  become  the  great  question  at  issue,  and  there 
could  have  been  none  other  of  such  fundamental  and  per 
manent  importance.  So  when  early  in  the  year  1858,  the 
President  sent  in  his  message  to  Congress,  treating  the 
population  of  Kansas  (for  voting  against  slavery)  as  in 
rebellion  against  lawful  authority,  and  recognizing  the 
invaders  from  Missouri  as  rightfully  entitled  to  impose  a 
slave-holding  constitution  upon  a  neighboring  territory ; 
when  he  declared  that  by  the  Dred-Scott  Decision,  "  slavery 
exists  in  Kansas  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  at  this  moment  as  much  a  slave  State  as 
Georgia  or  South  Carolina ;"  and  when  he  and  his  admin 
istration  undertook  to  justify  such  a  stupendous  fraud,  and 


40  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

reverse  the  whole  historic  policy  of  the  government  upon 
this  subject  and  rob  the  Constitution  of  its  two  noblest 
characteristics,  equal  rights  and  self-government;  was  it 
any  wonder  that  the  political  canvass  began  early,  and 
was  carried  on  vigorously  with  reference  to  the  next  presi 
dential  election,  or  that  it  did  not  cease  until  the  matter 
was  settled,  so  far  as  it  could  be  settled  by  the  popular  vote 
of  the  nation?     To  be  sure  the  South  threatened  secession 
and  armed  rebellion  if  they  were  not  allowed  to  carry  out 
their  pro-slavery  policy.     But  few  believed  that  they  would 
ever  resort  to  such  violent  measures,  when  the  question  at 
issue  was  once  settled  by  a  national  election,  as  every  other 
great  issue  had  been  peacefully  settled  in  this  way,  and  so 
both   sections    of   the   country  and  all   parties  set   about 
earnestly  and   anxiously  preparing  for  the  coming  presi 
dential  election.     This  was  to  be  the  national  election  of 
1860,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  came  into  office  and  such  important 
results  followed. 

These  two  preceding  years  were  not  only  a  period  of 
intense  excitement  and  earnest  debate  everywhere,  but  of 
changes  of  position  on  the  part  of  public  men,  the  breaking 
up  and  readjustment  of  parties,  and  threats  of  unheard-of 
measures  to  be  resorted  to  if  one  party  was  defeated  at  the 
polls.  The  Whig  party  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  too 
yielding  to  the  South  in  supporting  all  the  compromise 
measures  of  the  last  decade,  and  especially  in  acquiescing 
in  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  this  party  was  broken  up  to 
be  combined  with  the  Free  Soil,  American,  and  all  anti- 
slavery  elements,  into  the  Republican  party.  The  Demo 
cratic  party,  then  in  power,  had  no  sooner  elected  Mr. 
Buchanan  by  the  aid  of  the  South,  than  they  found  that 
they  could  not  carry  out  the  measures  which  the  South 
demanded  of  them.  The  North  would  not  acquiesce  in  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  nor  accept  the  Dred- 
Scott  Decision,  nor  carry  out  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  41 

nor  allow  that  slavery  might  be  carried  into  the  free 
States,  or  imposed  upon  the  territories  against  the  wishes 
of  the  inhabitants.  This  the  President  soon  found  to  his 
•cost,  for  he  could  not  control  Congress,  though  it  was 
Democratic  in  both  branches.  It  would  not  impose  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  upon  Kansas  without  submitting 
it  to  the  people ;  neither  would  it  favor  his  Cuban  scheme 
of  annexation,  or  allow  him  to  make  war  upon  the  Central 
American  States,  or  put  the  control  of  the  army  into  his 
hands,  or  make  appropriations  for  any  such  purpose. 
Indeed,  the  President  had  scarcely  finished  half  his  term  of 
office  before  his  administration  had  completely  broken 
down.  The  House  of  Representatives  had  become  Repub 
lican.  Senator  Douglas,  the  ablest  man  of  his  party,  and 
the  most  prominent  Democratic  candidate  for  the  next 
presidency,  was  opposing  his  policy.  General  Cass,  his 
Secretary  of  State,  who  acquiesced  at  first  in  the  measures 
he  proposed,  finally  resigned  his  place  in  the  cabinet. 
Attorney  General  Black,  who  sanctioned,  if  he  did  not 
draw  up  some  of  the  President's  most  objectionable  mes 
sages,  found  at  last  that  he  must  retire  from  the  cabinet. 
Then  came  the  State  elections  which  were  to  sanction  or 
condemn  Mr.  Buchanan's  pro-slavery  policy,  and  of  the 
great  States  which  had  helped  to  elect  him,  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  gave  their  majorities  against  him,  until  every 
Northern  State,  save  one,  had  withdrawn  from  him  its  sup 
port.  And  when  at  last  this  "Old  Public  Functionary,"  as 
he  styles  himself  in  his  final  message,  finds  that  in  trying 
to  obey  that  Dred-Scott  Decision  and  serve  the  party  that 
elected  him,  he  has  broken  up  his  party  and  encountered 
the  reprobation  of  all  lovers  of  freedom,  whether  at  the 
North  or  in  the  South,  and  discovers  that  he  has  only  been 
the  tool  of  the  South  in  cutting  away  the  very  foundations 
of  the  Union,  which  he  really  desired  to  preserve,  and  was 
making  so  many  concessions  to  preserve,  he  becomes  one 


42  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

of  the  most  pathetic  figures  in  political  history.  Had  he 
been  a  wiser  and  stronger  man  he  might  still  have  retrieved 
his  reputation.  He  might  even  at  that  late  hour  have 
made  such  a  change  in  policy  as,  firmly  carried  out,  would 
have  placed  him  in  the  list  of  great  Presidents.  But  he 
was  not  of  such  material. 

Thus  the  year  1859  closed,  to  be  followed  by  the  ever- 
memorable  presidential  canvass  of  1860. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  NOMINATION  OP  MR.  LINCOLN. 

The  Election  in  Connecticut  in  the  Spring  of  1860 — Its  Importance  to 
the  Nation — The  Frauds  by  which  Democratic  Politicians  Sought 
to  Carry  the  State — Governor  Buckingham's  Re-election — Lin 
coln's  Campaign— His  Acquaintance  with  Governor  Buckingham 
and  Its  Effect — The  Presidential  Election  of  1860. 

The  year  1859  closed  with  important  political  changes, 
with  a  startling  and  most  disturbing  occurrence  in  Virginia, 
and  with  such  bitter  discussion  and  threats  of  secession  in 
Congress  as  might  well  have  alarmed  all  sober-minded 
people  at  the  South,  as  well  as  at  the  North. 

The  administration  had  lost  its  control  of  the  country. 
The  few  State  elections  that  took  place  in  the  spring  of 
1859,  as  in  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island, 
were  in  favor  of  the  Republican  candidates,  though  New 
Hampshire  had  always  been  a  reliably  Democratic  State, 
and  Connecticut  was  just  as  likely  to  vote  the  one  way  as  the 
other.  But  when  the  other  State  elections  came,  which  were 
generally  in  the  autumn,  Massachusetts  was  Republican  by 
23,000  plurality,  and  the  State  of  New  York  by  25,000, 
and  Pennsylvania,  for  the  first  time,  by  over  26,000.  It 
began  to  look  as  if  the  coming  presidential  election  might 
be  carried  by  the  Republicans,  and  the  administration  of  the 
general  government  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  slavery 
be  completely  revolutionized.  Thus  the  Norwich  Bulletin 
says  in  the  autumn  of  1859:  "The  first  session  of  the  next 
Congress,  which  will  commence  on  the  first  Monday  of 
December,  will  make  the  next  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  will  doubtless  unmake  several  presidential 


44  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

aspirants.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  barely  elected  in  1856,  and 
since  his  election  his  administration  has  been  constantly 
weakening  the  party  that  elected  him.  The  results  of  the 
congressional  elections  in  the  several  States  during  the 
past  year,  point  unmistakably  to  a  Republican  administra 
tion  in  1860,  and  were  the  presidential  election  to  come  off 
next  November,  instead  of  a  year  hence,  no  Democratic 
candidate  could  carry  a  single  Northern  State."  And  the 
Springfield  Republican  says :  "  When  the  Whig  and  Demo 
cratic  parties  divided  the  country,  at  occasional  intervals 
a  Democratic  State  was  carrried  by  the  Whigs  on  the 
strength  of  some  local  question,  or  by  the  force  of  some 
great  excitement.  But  the  succeeding  election  was  pretty 
sure  to  restore  to  the  Democrats  their  ascendency.  The 
Republican  party,  starting  out  with  a  fixed  idea  and  a  con 
sistent  national  policy,  has  relied  upon  the  progress  of 
individual  conviction,  and  has  made  steady  gains  of  town 
after  town,  county  after  county,  State  after  State,  until  its 
ascendency  is  established  in  nearly  all  the  free  States.  Thus 
it  has  conquered  one  Democratic  State  after  another,  and 
what  it  takes  it  holds.  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  are  now 
as  fixedly  Republican  as  they  once  were  Democratic." 

Such  was  the  political  aspect  of  the  times  when  Congress 
came  together  at  the  close  of  the  year  1859.  The  adminis 
tration  had  lost  control  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
many  of  whom  had  just  been  elected,  though  the  Senate  was 
still  Democratic,  since  its  members  were  elected  for  a  longer 
term  of  service.  The  House  could  not  elect  a  speaker,  and 
it  was  two  months  before  they  had  succeeded  and  were 
organized.  The  President  had  waited  three  weeks  for  this 
before  sending  in  his  message,  though  the  country  was 
impatient  to  learn  what  he  was  to  recommend  in  that  critical 
state  of  affairs.  When  it  was  published,  he  was  found  to 
have  in  no  respect  modified  his  pro-slavery  policy,  but  to  be 
more  completely  under  the  control  of  the  Southern  members 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  45 

of  his  cabinet  than  ever.  He  still  asked  that  more  of  the 
war-making  power  which  belongs  to  Congress,  and  partic 
ularly  the  Senate,  be  put  into  his  hands,  to  be  used  with 
reference  to  Mexico  and  the  Spanish  American  States.  He 
recommended  the  organization  of  a  military  force  on  pur 
pose  to  interfere  with  Mexican  politics,  and  place  the  Juarez 
party  in  power,  and  seize  such  portions  of  territory  as  we 
may  consider  proper  indemnity  for  our  old  claims,  and  as 
furnishing  security  for  the  future. 

Then  began  in  Congress  those  long  and  bitter  and  trea 
sonable  debates,  which  were  enough  to  inflame  any  people 
into  madness,  especially  after  all  that  had  gone  before. 
John  Brown's  raid  and  execution  had  just  taken  place, 
and  one  of  the  first  things  done  in  the  House,  when  Con 
gress  came  together,  was  to  raise  a  committee  of  inquiry 
into  that  matter,  with  the  expectation  of  implicating  in  it 
some  of  the  Republican  leaders,  who  seemed  to  have  been 
just  as  much  surprised  by  it  as  others.  Then  Helper's 
book,  "The  Impending  Crisis,"  a  vigorous  arraignment  of 
the  system  of  slavery,  especially  in  its  social  and  economic 
bearing,  which  had  been  recommended  by  some  of  our 
public  men  and  considerably  circulated  in  some  of  the 
border  slave  States,  was  used  with  terrible  earnestness  to 
blast  the  prospects  of  certain  politicians  at  the  North.  In 
the  Senate,  too,  Jefferson  Davis  had  introduced  the  ulti 
matum  of  the  South :  The  rebuke  of  all  slavery  agitators, 
the  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  repeal  of 
the  personal  liberty  laws,  and  the  recognition  of  property 
in  slaves  as  an  indefeasible  right  of  territorial  settlers,  and 
entitled  to  congressional  protection ;  which  was  made  the 
text  of  all  manner  of  provoking  debate  and  treasonable 
talk.  It  seems  incredible  now,  that  men  in  other  respects 
dignified  and  honorable ;  honorable  and  dignified  enough 
to  represent  the  States  in  the  Congress  of  the  nation,  and 
to  be  entrusted  with  the  declaration  of  war  and  peace,  and 


46  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  should  have  so  trifled  with 
such  interests  and  courted  ruin.  Hear  such  language  as 
this  from  Mr.  Singleton  of  Mississippi,  in  the  House:  "  We 
will  have  expansion  of  slavery  in  the  Union, or  outside  of 
it  if  we  must.  I  say  the  sooner  we  get  out  of  the  Union 
the  better,  for  the  longer  we  stay  in  it  the  worse  for  us. 
The  South  have  made  up  their  minds  to  sustain  slavery. 
We  don't  intend  to  be  prescribed  by  present  limits,  and 
it  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  North  to  coerce  the 
3,000,000  of  freemen  at  the  South  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
and  prevent  their  going  into  the  surrounding  territories. 
Gentlemen  must  remember  that  gallant  son  of  the  South, 
Jefferson  Davis,  led  our  forces  in  Mexico  and  that,  thank 
God,  he  still  lives,  perhaps  to  lead  a  Southern  army."  And 
Mr.  Davis  himself,  in  the  Senate,  whatever  gallantry  he 
may  have  shown  in  the  field,  had  no  more  courtesy  nor  dis 
cretion  than  to  use  such  language  as  this  toward  a  fellow 
senator :  "  To  say  that  the  labor  of  the  two  sections  is  con 
flicting  and  irreconcilable,  is  a  declaration  of  war,  and 
hence  the  South  is  alarmed  and  must  look  to  her  defence. 
Seward  is  a  traitor,  and  deserves  the  gallows.  Virginia  has 
hung  John  Brown,  and  if  they  get  hold  of  Seward  they  will 
hang  him." 

Another  presidential  election  was  at  hand.  Mr.  Buchanan 
had  no  prospect  of  a  re-election.  The  questions  at  issue 
were  well  understood.  The  discussions  over  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  the  Dred-Scott  Decision,  and  the  admission  of 
Kansas  as  a  slave  State,  had  enlightened  the  nation.  It  was 
plain  that  the  South  would  never  be  satisfied  with  anything 
short  of  the  establishment  of  slavery  everywhere  and  its 
protection  and  encouragement  by  the  general  government. 
It  was  evident,  also,  that  if  this  was  not  done,  some  of  the 
Southern  States  were  preparing  to  secede  from  the  Union, 
and  no  concessions  or  compromises  could  prevent  it.  The 
party  conventions  to  nominate  candidates  for  the  presidency 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  47 

were  about  to  be  held,  the  Democratic  convention  afe 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  when  divided,  a  second  one  at  Balti 
more,  Md. ;  and  still  later  the  Republican  convention  which 
nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Chicago,  111.  In  such  a  state  of 
general  interest  and  intense  anxiety  throughout  the  country, 
the  election  of  a  single  State,  though  no  larger  than  Con 
necticut,  attracted  unusual  attention.  Then  this  State,  as 
has  been  said,  had  been  just  about  as  likely  to  be  Demo 
cratic  as  Republican,  and  her  election  would  be  a  good  index 
of  the  drift  of  political  opinion  at  the  North.  Besides,  this 
was  one  of  the  few  States  whose  election  came  in  the  spring, 
while  the  others  did  not  take  place  until  the  autumn. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  political  canvass  of  1860 
became  the  most  vigorous  the  State  ever  knew.  The  Repub 
lican  convention  which  renominated  Governor  Bucking 
ham  was  held  at  Hartford  in  January.  The  Democratic 
convention  which  nominated  Thomas  H.  Seymour  was  also 
held  at  Hartford  in  February.  Mr.  Seymour  was  an  agree 
able  and  popular  citizen  of  Hartford,  an  upright  and  honor 
able  man,  much  esteemed  by  his  neighbors  and  friends.  He 
was  an  officer  in  the  New  England  regiment  of  volunteers 
in  the  Mexican  war,  and  in  command  of  it  took  a  distin 
guished  part  in  the  capture  of  Mexico.  He  was  four  times 
elected  governor  of  the  State.  He  was  for  six  years  our 
Minister  to  Russia,  appointed  by  President  Pierce.  When 
he  returned,  as  the  secession  movement  was  coming  on, 
"his  sympathies  were  largely  with  the  South,  and  he  con 
tinued  his  opposition  to  the  war  until  its  close,  as  the  leader 
of  the  Connecticut  peace  Democrats."  And  as  four  years 
before,  Mr.  Buchanan  had  just  returned  from  his  ministry 
at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  had  been  found  to  be  a  more 
desirable  candidate  for  the  presidency,  because  he  had  not 
been  at  home  to  take  any  public  position  upon  the  questions 
raised  during  his  absence,  so  Mr.  Seymour  was  deemed  in 
the  present  critical  state  of  politics,  a  peculiarly  desirable 


48  WJLLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  Connecticut,  if  not  to> 
succeed  Mr.  Buchanan  as  President.  Then  began  the 
struggle  for  this  seemingly  small  prize.  With  a  population 
of  less  than  half  a  million,  how  little  her  vote  would  weigh 
numerically  against  such  States  as  New  York,  or  Penn 
sylvania,  or  some  of  the  larger  Western  States !  Little  to- 
be  sure,  except  as  indicative  of  the  purpose  of  the  North 
to  consent  neither  to  the  extension  of  slavery  nor  to 
secession  from  the  Union,  and  to  be  an  example  to  the 
other  States.  But  small  as  the  prize  might  seem,  it  was 
deemed  valuable  enough  for  other  States  not  only  to  watch 
the  result,  but  also  to  take  a  pretty  vigorous  hand  in  the 
game. 

As  showing  that  this  was  not  an  overestimate  of  the 
importance  of  that  coming  election,  we  refer  to  an  article 
that  appeared  in  the  Springfield  Republican  (March  26th) T 
a  few  days  before,  and  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Bowles,  its 
sagacious  editor : — 

"The  Connecticut  election  next  Monday  is  only  a  presidential 
election  in  miniature.  Such  a  fierce  struggle  was  never  known  there 
before.  The  Democrats  of  the  country  feel  that  upon  their  success  in 
Connecticut  depends  their  chance  of  making  a  successful  contest  for 
the  presidency.  If  they  cannot  make  a  break  anywhere  in  the  reaf 
firmed  front  of  Republican  free  States  before  the  great  campaign 
opens,  they  will  start  under  an  oppressive  sense  of  weakness  and 
apprehension  of  defeat,  scattering  doubt  and  dismay  through  all  their 
ranks.  Connecticut  is  chosen  as  the  weakest  point  for  a  demonstration 
that  will  restore  their  prestige  of  power  and  victory.  The  little  com 
monwealth  is  therefore  beleaguered  and  beset  in  all  its  borders  with 
Democratic  workers,  Democratic  orators,  and  Democratic  money. 
Their  purpose,  as  well  as  their  hope,  was  expressed  by  Fernando 
Wood,  who  has  entered  actively  into  the  canvass,  when  he  said  that 
if  money  could  buy  Connecticut  he  would  purchase  the  whole  of  it. 
Not  only  here  as  well  as  everywhere,  have  the  office-holders  been 
made  to  contribute  to  the  fund  wherewith  the  voice  of  Connecticut  is 
to  be  purchased  and  perverted,  but  the  pro-slavery  merchants  of  New 
York  have  come  down  with  $100  and  $500  subscriptions.  No  less  than 
$5,000  has  been  raised  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  taken  to  Connecticut 
last  week  for  the  purchase  of  votes  for  the  Democratic  ticket.  Never 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  49 

was  weakness  more  tempted,  never  strength  more  tried.  The  Repub 
licans  are  meeting  the  onslaught  with  courage,  firmness  and  work. 
They  probahly  have  not  got  so  much  money,  but  they  have  the  real 
majority  of  the  votes,  and  the  real  strength  of  the  argument.  They 
are  fighting  the  great  fight  of  1860,  and  apparently  fighting  it  well. 
It  is  like  the  two  commanders  of  hostile  armies  stepping  out  to  decide 
the  war  in  a  single  combat.  The  whole  country  looks  on  with  in 
terest  and  anxiety.  The  little  State  rocks  with  the  excitement  of  the 
contest,  and  for  a  week  the  thought  and  action  of  the  people  will  be 
centered  in  the  election.  Bribery,  corruption,  and  fraud  will  do  their 
worst  to  prevent  ballots,  which  properly  cast  and  counted  would 
show  not  less  than  3,000  Republican  majority,  but  we  have  faith  that 
these  desperate  instruments  cannot  do  their  appointed  work." 

Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  hardly  thought  of  then  as  a  can 
didate  for  the  presidency,  was  introduced  into  Connecticut 
and  made  half  a  dozen  campaign  speeches  during  the 
month  that  preceded  their  State  election.  He  was  the  guest 
of  Governor  Buckingham,  by  whom  he  was  introduced  to  his 
audiences,  and  here  began  that  personal  acquaintance  which 
afterwards  secured  to  the  Governor  so  much  of  the  Presi 
dent's  confidence  and  allowed  the  Governor  to  make  his 
suggestions,  and  gain  for  them  such  consideration.  Nor 
was  the  Democratic  party  without  its  representatives  and 
able  speakers  in  that  State  campaign.  Such  men  as  Caleb 
Cushing  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Prescott  of  Missouri,  and 
Fernando  Wood  of  New  York,  represented  their  own  party 
from  abroad,  while  the  Republicans  had  General  Wilson, 
Thomas  Corwin,  and  Cassius  M.  Clay,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
domestic  speakers  on  both  sides,  some  of  whom  visited 
every  town  and  village,  not  to  speak  of  the  large  gather 
ings  at  the  great  centers,  until  every  part  of  the  State  was 
reached,  and  every  night  occupied  with  able  discussions  of 
the  great  issues  of  the  canvass.  Nor  were  the  ordinary 
modes  of  political  organization,  or  means  of  creating  pop 
ular  enthusiasm  during  an  election,  neglected.  At  Hart 
ford  each  party  had  its  own  "  wigwam "  or  "  camp "  of 
rough  timber  and  boards,  which  would  hold  three  thousand 


60  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

people.  Each  also  had  its  own  organization  of  "  clubs " 
throughout  the  State;  "the  Seymour  clubs,"  and  the 
"Wide  Awakes.''  This  last  was  only  started  as  a  torch 
light  company,  made  up  of  young  men  who  volunteered  to 
do  escort  duty,  and  with  their  glazed  caps  and  capes  that 
showed  well  under  torchlight,  they  became  a  striking 
feature  in  all  the  gatherings.  We  remember  to  have  wit 
nessed  the  display  the  night  the  two  carnps  were  dedicated 
at  Hartford,  where  we  heard  all  the  above  speakers  discuss 
the  questions  of  the  hour,  and  we  cannot  recall  their  fervid 
eloquence  or  great  arguments,  so  distinctly  or  with  such 
thrilling  recollections  as  those  two  enthusiastic  processions 
winding  up  over  and  around  the  park,  one  of  which  carried 
by  actual  count  1,960  torches.  Some  of  the  young  captains 
of  these  Wide  Awakes,  like  Colonel  Bissell,  afterwards 
made  good  commanders  in  the  army.  He  in  particular 
possessed  such  power  of  command  and  ability  to  inspire 
enthusiasm,  that  it  was  said  of  him  that  when  he  was 
unable  to  attend  a  political  gathering  with  his  Wide 
Awakes,  it  was  deemed  sufficient  if  he  only  sent  along  his 
"white  hat." 

It  was  under  such  circumstances,  and  in  such  a  state  of 
public  sentiment  that  the  Connecticut  State  election  took 
place  April  2,  1860.  Here  is  the  view  taken  by  a  journal 
outside  of  the  State,  but  near  it  and  well  informed  as  to  the 
situation.  On  the  day  before  the  election  it  said:  "The 
great  contest  in  Connecticut  to-day  is  awaited  with  interest 
and  anxiety  all  over  the  country."  The  next  day,  in 
announcing  the  result,  it  said  :— 

There  is  no  drawback  in  the  Republican  victory  in  Connecticut.  It 
is  complete,  decisive,  and  the  Union  stands.  On  the  matter  of  slavery 
extension,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  reign  of  the  slave  power  in 
national  affairs,  New  England  is  a  unit.  Money  was  poured  into  the 
State  for  the  purpose  of  buying  voters,  and  every  gain  that  the  Demo 
crats  have  made  has  been  made  with  money.  They  have  bought  up 
the  foreign  population  of  the  large  towns.  But  they  have  made  no 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  51 

converts,  thank  God,  among  Americans,  who  know  their  rights  and 
their  wrongs,  and  who  have  been  educated  to  liberty  and  liberal 
ideas.  There  is  not  money  enough  in  the  hands  of  the  Democratic 
party  to  buy  Connecticut.  That  State  is  Republican  to-day  simply 
because  it  is  a  State  in  which  education,  intelligence  and  Christian 
morality  have  the  ascendency  over  ignorance,  vice,  and  political  cor 
ruption.  It  is  doubtful  whether  in  any  previous  election  in  New 
England,  the  tactics  of  such  political  scoundrels  as  Fernando  Wood 
have  been  so  shamelessly  resorted  to  as  in  this.  There  are  enough 
facts  already  patent  to  show  that  voters  were  imported  like  cattle, 
and  were  "put  through"  by  the  most  wholesale  perjury.  This  is- 
new  business  for  Connecticut  and  for  New  England,  and  we  trust 
that  the  Republican  Legislature  now  elected  will  so  alter  the  laws 
as  hereafter  to  render  such  abuses  impossible.  The  Republican 
victory  in  Connecticut  on  Monday  last,  is  the  eighth  in  succesion 
which  her  political  records  exhibit,  but  none  of  the  seven  previous 
so  proved  her  faith,  so  tried  her  virtue,  so  fixed  her  political  char 
acter  as  has  this.  Beset  on  every  side  but  not  cast  down,  Connecticut 
can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  doubtful  or  fickle  State  in  politics. 
— [ Springfie Id  Republican,  April  *~(th. 

The  existence  of  such  fraud  in  that  election  was  of  course 
denied,  but  the  evidence  in  support  of  it,  though  not  ab 
solutely  direct,  was  sufficient  to  leave  no  reasonable  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  intelligent  observers.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
go  into  the  question  at  length.  The  verdict  has  been 
pronounced,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  reversed.  We  know, 
however,  that  the  aggregate  vote  of  Connecticut  in  that 
election  was  88,395,  or  9,599  larger  than  the  year  before, 
and  8,060  larger  than  in  the  presidential  election  of  1858. 
Governor  Buckingham's  plurality  was  only  541.  Indeed, 
the  election  was  so  close  that  when  the  first  returns  came 
into  New  Haven,  and  that  city  and  Hartford,  and  Middle- 
town  and  Bridgeport — places  so  closely  connected  by 
steamboats  with  New  York — were  found  to  have  given  Mr. 
Seymour  their  votes  by  good  majorities,  those  who  were 
prominent  upon  that  ticket  were  called  out  and  congrat 
ulated  upon  their  election;  and  their  modest  acknowl 
edgments  had  only  commenced,  when  "  Buckingham !" 
"  Buckingham !"  came  telegraphed  over  the  lines  from  the 


62  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

eastern  part  of  the  State,  and  from  most  of  the  smaller  and 
inland  towns,  which  entirely  changed  the  result.  And  that 
name  borne  on  the  night  air  over  the  anxious  crowd,  and 
in  at  every  listening  window,  was  the  one  which  for  the 
next  years  of  struggle  and  conflict  was  to  rally  the  State  to 
its  heroic  work,  and  is  now  breathed  tenderly  in  so  many  of 
her  homes.  This  re-election  secured  to  the  Republicans  a 
good  working  majority  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature, 
and  secured  the  return  of  Lafayette  S.  Foster  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  where  he  was  President  of  the  Senate  when 
President  Lincoln  was  assassinated,  and  where  he  must 
have  succeeded  him  in  that  office,  had  the  plans  of  the 
conspirators  proved  successful,  and  the  Vice-President  also 
been  put  out  of  the  way. 

The  Governor  was  inaugurated  at  New  Haven,  Wednes 
day,  May  1860,  with  the  usual  parade  and  ceremonies. 
His  message  was  a  plain,  business-like  document,  devoted 
to  the  affairs  of  the  State,  with  the  exception  of  the  fol 
lowing  reference  to  the  great  issues  before  the  country, 
and  the  demands  of  the  Southern  States  which  the  people 
of  Connecticut  repudiated  : — 

Entertaining  these  opinions,  they  feel  called  upon  by  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  interests  already  involved;  interests  which  are  aug 
mented  year  by  year  as  this  nation  presses  on  toward  maturity;  to 
enter  their  solemn  protest  against  the  assumption  and  exercise  of 
powers  by  the  General  Government  for  the  protection  of  slavery  in 
the  common  territories,  or  for  perpetuating  the  system;  and  they 
feel  justified  in  adopting  all  constitutional  measures  to  prevent  the 
extension  of  an  institution  which  can  only  be  sustained  by  the  censor 
ship  of  the  press,  by  interrupting  the  legal  channels  of  intelligence, 
and  by  enacting  laws  which  are  in  conflict  with  the  natural  rights  of 
men,  and  in  violation  of  those  principles  of  eternal  justice  which  are 
of  universal  application,  and  which  read  back  of,  and  are  anterior  to, 
any  human  code.  They  are,  and  ever  have  been,  devotedly  attached 
to  the  Federal  Union,  but  believe  that  loyalty  to  the  General  Govern 
ment  cannot  be  maintained  in  any  section  of  our  country,  unless  the 
people  can  freely,  fully,  and  fearlessly  discuss  the  principles  upon 
which  it  is  founded,  and  on  which  it  must  be  sustained.  They  will 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  53 

vindicate  themselves  before  the  world,  in  embracing  every  offered 
opportunity  to  influence  the  administration  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  so  as  to  accomplish  the  mission  which  God  designed  this  nation 
to  fulfill,—  the  establishment  and  extension  of  the  blessings  of  freedom, 
civilization  and  Christianity. — [Message  of  1860. 

The  Governor  also  called  attention  to  some  of  the  election 
laws  under  which  so  much  fraud  had  been  practiced,  and 
recommended  their  repeal,  which  was  immediately  done. 
The  law  especially  referred  to  was  the  one  which  allowed 
a  voter  in  one  town  to  vote  on  certificate  in  any  other ;  a 
law  proper  enough  in  itself  but  easily  perverted,  as  it  had 
been  to  such  an  extent,  and  with  such  peril  to  the  State 
and  to  the  nation.  The  existence  of  such  fraud  was  dis 
puted,  but  when  the  charge  was  so  publicly  made  and  gen 
erally  believed  that  these  certificates  were  filled  in  with  the 
names  of  dead  or  missing  Democratic  voters,  and  sent  down 
to  New  York  and  put  into  the  hands  of  men  who  were  to 
take  the  boats  Monday  night,  and  deposit  them  unchal 
lenged  the  next  day  at  the  polls  in  Connecticut;  when 
respectable  papers  estimated  them  at  not  less  than  2,700, 
and  congratulated  the  State  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
these  "sham  Democratic  voters"  would  be  missing  at  the 
coming  presidential  election  because  they  would  be  needed 
at  home  then  ;  and  when  the  Legislature  were  so  well  con 
vinced  of  the  fraud  that  they  hastened  to  prevent  the 
repetition  of  it ;  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  such  a  fraud 
was  practiced.  And  what  if  it  had  been  successful  ?  Con 
necticut  would  have  lost  her  vote  and  her  proper  repre 
sentative  at  home  and  in  the  next  Congress.  Her  example 
would  have  been  lost  upon  the  nation,  and  her  true  position 
misrepresented  in  that  great  struggle  to  preserve  the  Union 
and  check  the  encroachments  of  slavery.  Her  true  place 
in  history  would  have  been  falsified,  and  the  stigma  fixed 
upon  a  neighboring  State  of  having  wronged  her  thus,  and 
wronged  the  nation,  without  being  herself  a  slave  State,  or 
having  the  miserable  motive  to  save  an  institution  of  her 


54  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

own  and  the  great  pecuniary  value  of  it.  It  was  the  same 
crime  attempted  against  Kansas,  whose  fraudulent  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution  was  to  be  accepted,  because  it  had  been 
". duly  certified  "  by  the  proper  authorities,  although  repudi 
ated  by  the  country,  and  which  Congress  dared  not  adopt, 
though  the  South  demanded  it,  and  the  President  recom 
mended  it,  and  so  many  of  the  administrative  party  at  the 
North  favored  it.  Such  a  crime  looks  strangely  now, 
whether  accomplished  or  attempted,  and  will  look  still 
worse  in  the  clearer  light  of  history,  and  every  one  must 
be  thankful  that  in  neither  case  could  it  be  effected. 

In  the  meantime  the  country  was  unconsciously  prepar 
ing  for  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  As  yet  he  was  little 
known  to  the  country.  He  had  often  been  a  member  of  the 
Illinois  Legislature,  and  in  1847-8  represented  the  State  in 
Congress,  in  the  House.  This  was  during  the  Mexican 
war,  and  he  showed  himself  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery.  Still  his  position  was  not  extensively  known, 
certainly  not  his  abilities  as  afterwards  developed.  And 
it  was  not  until  ten  years  after,  when  the  struggle  over 
Kansas  was  going  on,  and  Senator  Douglas  was  a  candidate 
for  re-election,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  declared  to  be 
"the  first  and  only  choice  of  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  for 
the  United  States  Senate  as  the  successor  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas."  It  was  this  canvass  of  1858,  and  the  speeches 
which  he  then  made  that  brought  him  into  general  notice, 
and  while  his  views  represented  well  the  general  sentiment 
of  the  North  on  the  slavery  questions,  he  showed  himself 
able  to  encounter  successfully  his  opponent,  the  ablest 
political  leader  in  the  country — for  such  was  Senator 
Douglas.  A  graphic  and  justly  discriminating  characteri 
zation  of  the  two  men  is  given  by  Mr.  Elaine  :— 

Mr.  Douglas  was  everywhere  known  as  a  debater  of  singular  skill. 
His  mind  was  fertile  in  resources.  He  was  master  of  logic.  No  man 
perceived  more  quickly  than  he  the  strength  or  the  weakness  of  an 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  55 

argument,   and  no  one  excelled  him  in  the  use  of  sophistry  and 
fallacy.    Where  he  could  not  elucidate  a  point  to  his  own  advantage, 
he  would  fatally  becloud  it  for  his  opponent.     In  that  peculiar  style 
of  debate  which,  in  its  intensity  resembles  a  physical  combat,  he  had 
no  equal.    He  spoke  with  extraordinary  readiness.     There  was  no 
halting  in  his  phrase.    He  used  good  English,  terse,  vigorous,  pointed. 
He  disregarded  the  adornments  of  rhetoric,   rarely  used  a  simile. 
He  was  utterly  destitute  of  humor,  and  had  slight  appreciation  of 
wit.     He  never  cited  historical  precedents  except  from  the  domain  of 
American  politics.     Inside  of  that  field  his  knowledge  was  compre 
hensive,  minute,  critical.     Beyond  it  his  learning  was  limited.     He 
was  not  a  reader.     His  recreations  were  not  in  literature.    In  the 
whole  range  of  his  voluminous  speaking  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
either  a  line  of  poetry  or  a  classical  allusion.     But  he  was  by  nature 
an  orator,  by  long  practice  a  debater.     He  could  lead  a  crowd  almost 
irresistibly  to  his  own  conclusions.    He  could,  if  he  wished,  incite  a 
mob  to  desperate  deeds.     He   was,   in  short,   an   able,   audacious, 
almost  unconquerable  opponent  in  public  debate.    It  would  have  been 
impossible  to  find  any  man  of  the  same  type  able  to  meet  him  before 
the  people  of  Illinois.     Whoever  attempted  it  would  probably  have 
been  destroyed  in  the  first  encounter.     But  the  man  who  was  chosen 
to  meet  him,  who  challenged  him  to  the  combat,  was  radically  dif 
ferent  in  every  phase  of  character.    Scarcely  could  two  men  be  more 
unlike,  in  mental  and  moral  constitution,  than  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.     Mr.  Lincoln  was  calm  and  philosophical.     He 
loved  the  truth  for  the  truth's  sake.    He  would  not  argue  from  a  false 
premise,  or  be  deceived  himself  or  deceive  others  by  a  false  con 
clusion.     He  had  pondered  deeply  on  the  issues  which  aroused  him 
to  action.     He  had  given  anxious  thought  to  the  problems  of  free 
government,  and  to  the  destiny  of  the  Republic.     He  had  for  himself 
marked  out  a  path  of  duty,  and  he  walked  in  it  fearlessly.     His 
mental    processes   were   slower   but  more  profound  than  those  of 
Douglas.     He  did  not  seek  to  say  merely  the  thing  that  was  best  for 
that  day's  debate,  but  the  thing  which  would  stand  the  test  of  time 
and  square  with  eternal  justice.    He  wished  nothing  to  appear  white 
unless  it  was  white.    His  logic  was  severe  and  faultless.     He  did  not 
resort  to  fallacy,  and  could  detect  it  in  his  opponent,  and  expose  it 
with  merciless  directness.     He  had  an  abounding  sense  of  humor, 
and  always  employed  it  in  illustration  of  his  argument,  never  for  the 
mere  sake  of  provoking  merriment.     In  this  respect  he  had  the 
wonderful  aptness  of  Franklin.     He  often  taught  a  great  truth  with 
the  felicitous  brevity  of  an  ^Esop  fable.     His  words  did  not  flow  in 
an  impetuous  torrent,  as  did  those  of  Douglas,  but  they  were  always 
well  chosen,  deliberate,   and  conclusive. — ["  Twenty  Years  in  Con 
gress,"  VoL  I.,  p.  144. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

In  the  struggle  over  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the 
country  had  reached  this  point:  the  South  was  determined 
to  impose  slavery  upon  Kansas  without  her  consent  (since 
the  people  were  opposed  to  it),  and  here  was  where  the 
administration  was  unable  to  carry  such  a  measure  through 
Congress,  while  the  North  had  such  respect  for  the  popular 
vote,  and  regarded  it  as  so  fundamental  in  our  form  of 
government,  that  they  never  would  allow  it  to  be  over 
ridden,  especially  when  it  was  to  be  done  to  perpetuate  and 
extend  slavery.  Mr.  Douglas's  political  course  could  never 
have  been  satisfactory  to  the  South,  had  he  not  aided  them 
in  their  great  purpose.  He  was  the  author  of  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  approved  of  the  i) red- Scott 
Decision,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Laws,  and  so  he  might 
properly  expect  the  support  of  the  South  in  his  aspirations 
after  the  presidency,  for  which  his  prospects  were  the 
fairest  of  any  member  of  the  Democratic  party.  But  how 
about  the  North,  and  the  party  in  his  own  State  ?  Would 
they  indorse  such  positions,  and  especially  force  slavery 
upon  a  people  that  repudiated  it  ?  At  another  time  they 
might  have  suffered  it,  but  not  then,  after  the  fierce  dis 
cussions  and  dangerous  measures  resorted  to,  to  accomplish 
such  a  purpose,  for  the  last  ten  years.  So  while  his  public 
record  made  him  popular  at  the  South,  it  was  going  to  em 
barrass  him,  if  not  defeat  his  re-election  to  the  Senate,  proud 
as  his  party  at  home  were  of  his  ability  and  ready  to  follow 
his  leadership.  So  here  he  made  much  of  his  opposition 
to  the  Lecompton  Constitution  because  it  had  been  repu 
diated  by  the  people.  It  was  a  brave  and  noble  thing  in 
him,  in  spite  of  his  record,  and  in  opposition  to  the  Pres 
ident  and  almost  the  whole  Democratic  party  in  Congress, 
to  take  and  maintain  as  he  did  such  a  distinctively  Northern 
position.  True,  it  removed  him  from  the  leadership  of  his 
party,  and  robbed  him  of  the  presidency,  or  at  least  of  a 
favorable  nomination  for  it  and  a  probable  election.  The 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  57 

President  and  his  party  in  Congress  turned  bitterly  against 
him,  and  when  his  claims  were  urged  upon  the  Presidential 
Convention  at  Charleston,  the  convention  was  divided  and 
broken  up,  and  when  it  reassembled  at  Baltimore,  his 
defeat  was  only  made  sure.  But  it  was  only  this  that 
secured  his  re-election  to  the  Senate  in  1858,  from  Illinois. 
He  planted  himself  squarely  upon  "State  Sovereignty,"  a 
happy  phrase  of  his  own  coining,  and  which  was  popularly 
translated  into  "  Squatter  Sovereignty,"  or  the  sovereignty 
which  the  first  settlers,  or  "  squatters,"  acquire  over  the 
land  they  settle,  and  made  such  use  of  it  as  seemingly  to 
meet  all  the  demands  of  a  liberty-loving  people  in  respect 
to  this  fundamental  and  all-important  popular  right.  But 
how  was  this  to  satisfy  the  South  and  their  expectations 
from  the  next  President,  especially  when  he  invented 
another  phrase,  "  unfriendly  legislation,"  as  unfortunate 
for  him  at  the  South  as  the  other  had  been  fortunate  at  the 
North  ?  By  this  was  meant  that,  while  the  people  had  the 
right  to  vote  slavery  out,  or  vote  it  into  their  State,  they 
might  still  by  police  regulations  and  "  unfriendly  legisla 
tion"  prevent  its  existence  there,  as  some  of  the  free  States 
were  doing  by  their  Personal  Liberty  Bills,  virtually 
defeating  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  And  if  this  could  satisfy 
the  liberty-loving  North,  what  so  fitted  to  awaken  the  sus 
picions  and  bitterest  hostility  of  the  slave-holding  South  as 
such  jugglery,  admitting  what  the  law  requires  and  then 
teaching  how  to  break  it. 

Thus,  in  those  great  debates  between  Mr.  Douglas  and 
Mr.  Lincoln,  so  ably  conducted  and  long  continued  over  the 
whole  State,  the  former  found  himself  in  a  dangerous 
dilemma,  of  which  the  latter  could  not  fail  to  avail  himself. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Lincoln  perceived  at  once  the  weak  point  in  all 
his  defenses,  and  resolved  to  press  him  there.  So  in  the 
course  of  these  debates,  when  they  were  allowed  to  ask  each 
other  questions  and  were  required  to  answer  them.  Mr. 


58  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Lincoln  proposed  four,  three  of  them  harmless  enough,  but 
the  other  interpolated  among  the  rest,  was  this  :  "  Can  the 
people  of  a  United  States  Territory,  in  any  lawful  way, 
against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
exclude  slavery  from  its  own  limits  prior  to  the  formation 
of  a  State  Constitution  ?"  The  meaning  of  it  was  :  What 
right  has  a  State  to  legislate  slavery  out,  where  by  the 
Constitution  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
and  the  D red-Scott  Decision,  it  has  a  right  to  go  in?  Mr. 
Douglas's  answer  was :  "  It  matters  not  what  way  the 
Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide  as  to  the  abstract 
question,  whether  slavery  may  or  may  not  go  into  a  ter 
ritory  under  the  Constitution ;  the  people  have  the  lawful 
means  to  introduce  or  exclude  it,  as  they  please,  for  the 
reason  that  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day  or  an  hour  anywhere 
unless  it  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations.  Those 
police  regulations  can  only  be  established  by  the  local 
Legislature,  or  if  the  people  are  opposed  to  slavery,  they 
will  elect  representatives  to  that  body  who  will,  by  un 
friendly  legislation,  effectually  prevent  the  introduction  of 
it  into  their  midst."  Such  a  transparent  sophism,  that  a 
thing  "  may  be  lawfully  driven  away  from  a  place  where  it 
has  a  lawful  right  to  go,"  his  opponent  did  not  fail  to 
expose  and  hold  up  to  popular  ridicule,  which,  while  it  did 
not  rob  Douglas  of  the  support  of  his  party  to  whom  he  was 
an  ideal  leader,  did  blast  his  prospects  for  the  presidency 
elsewhere.  Indeed,  Mr.  Lincoln  seems  to  have  correctly 
forecast  the  results  of  that  political  canvass  from  the  first, 
for  he  told  his  friends  that  his  opponent  must  impale  him 
self  upon  one  horn  or  the  other  of  that  dilemma.  If  he 
says,  "  Yes,"  he  loses  his  Southern  support,  and  if  he  says, 
"  No,"  he  loses  the  support  of  the  North.  He  said,  "Yes," 
and  carried  his  State  and  secured  his  senatorship,  but  he 
lost  the  country  and  the  presidency,  while  Mr.  Lincoln 
went  home  with  neither  a  senatorship  nor  at  this  time  any 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  59 

prospect  of  the  presidency.  His  position,  however,  was  the 
right  one,  and  he  showed  such  ability  and  trustworthiness 
and  moral  earnestness — this  last  the  very  quality  in  which 
Mr.  Douglas  was  most  deficient — that  he  soon  came  to  be 
appreciated,  and  when  the  time  called  for  such  a  man  he 
was  put  in  nomination  and  triumphantly  elected  to  the  pres 
idency.  As  some  one  has  justly  characterized  these  men:— 

"  The  difference  in  this  respect  between  the  two  men  is  well  illus 
trated  in  their  discussions  of  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  former 
never  treats  slavery  as  if  it  had  anything  right  or  wrong  in  it,  any 
thing  objectionable  in  it  any  more  than  freedom,  and  if  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  laws  allowed  its  restriction  or  prohibition,  he  had  no  more 
objection  to  its  being  voted  into  a  State  or  Territory  than  to  its  being 
voted  out,  if  the  people  wanted  it.  He  cared  not  whether  'it  was 
voted  up  or  voted  down,'  as  he  said,  while  Mr.  Lincoln  made  this  the 
'real  issue,  the  eternal  struggle  between  these  two  principles,  right 
and  wrong.' ' ' 

As  for  Mr.  Douglas,  the  position  he  had  taken  cost  him 
the  regular  nomination.  All  the  Southern  elements  of  his 
party  turned  against  him,  and  a  section  of  his  party  at  the 
North.  The  President  and  his  cabinet  bitterly  resented 
his  opposition  to  their  favorite  measure  of  forcing  slavery 
upon  Kansas  without  regard  to  the  wishes  of  the  people. 
So  when  he  was  returned  to  the  Senate  he  found  himself 
deposed  from  the  chairmanship  of  the  committee  on  ter 
ritories,  the  position  which  he  had  long  held,  and  where  he 
had  framed  and  advocated  some  of  the  most  objectionable 
measures  of  the  administration  in  respect  to  slavery  in 
Kansas.  And  when  the  Democratic  National  Convention 
assembled  in  April  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  instead  of  finding 
his  claims  to  the  presidency  generally  admitted,  as  they 
might  have  been  before  his  Illinois  campaign,  they  were  so 
strenuously  and  bitterly  opposed,  that  the  delegations  from 
several  of  the  Southern  States  withdrew  and  utterly  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  nomination  of  such  a  can 
didate.  Finally,  after  fifty-seven  ballots,  in  which  it  was 


60  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

impossible  to  secure  Mr.  Douglas's  nomination,  though  he 
always  led  his  competitors,  the  convention  adjourned  to  re 
assemble  in  Baltimore  in  June.  Here  in  a  convention 
where  eight  of  the  Southern  States  were  not  represented^ 
he  was  nominated,  and  the  ticket  thus  presented  to  the 
people  read:  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  Pres 
ident,  Hon.  Herschell  Y.  Johnson  of  Georgia,  Vice-President. 
This  ticket  represented  that  portion  of  the  Democratic 
party  who  held  that  slavery  was  not  to  be  imposed  upon 
the  people  of  any  territory  without  their  consent,  though 
they  accepted,  with  Air.  Douglas,  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  the  Dred-Scott  Decision,  and  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law. 

The  Seceders'  Convention,  which  met  first  at  Richmond, 
the  same  month,  and  then  adjourned  to  Baltimore,  agreed 
upon  this  ticket :  Hon.  John  C.  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky,, 
President,  and  Gen.  Joseph  Lane  of  Oregon,  Vice-President. 
They  held  that  a  slaveholder  might  take  his  slaves  into  any 
territory  or  free  State,  and  that  the  government  was  bound 
to  protect  his  right  to  such  property  there,  in  spite  of  the 
votes  and  laws  of  such  a  State  or  territory. 

When  the  Republican  Convention  came  together  at 
Chicago  in  May,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  regarded  as  so  likely 
to  secure  their  nomination  as  some  others,  particularly  Mr. 
Seward  of  New  York.  The  latter  was  sure  to  carry  his 
own  State,  with  her  great  vote  of  seventy  delegates,  while 
his  ability  and  public  record  were  altogether  in  his  favor, 
and  on  the  first  ballot  he  led  all  others.  But  upon  the 
third  ballot  Mr.  Lincoln  was  found  to  have  received  the 
requisite  majority,  which  the  New  York  delegation,  through 
Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  generously  proposed  to  make  unan 
imous,  and  this  was  done  with  great  heartiness.  Hon. 
Hannibal  Hamlin  was  put  upon  the  same  ticket,  so  that  it 
stood :  Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois,  President,  and 
Hon.  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine,  Vice-President.  And 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  61 

this  represented  slavery  as  a  local  and  not  a  national 
institution,  which  Congress  had  no  power  to  establish  in 
any  territory,  without  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants,  or 
to  legalize  in  any  free  State. 

The  "Constitutional  Union"  party  had  also  their  ticket, 
which  bore  the  names  of  Hon.  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  for 
President,  and  Hon.  Edward  Everett  for  Vice-President. 
This  was  chiefly  meant  to  be  a  conservative  ticket,  and 
pledged  simply  to  uphold  "  the  Constitution  of  the  country, 
the  union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws," 
without  going  into  any  particulars  as  to  the  application  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  to  the  questions  that  had 
-arisen  in  respect  to  slavery. 

On  these  various  issues,  and  in  this  critical  state  of  the 
-country,  the  several  parties  went  into  the  presidential  can 
vass.  Never  had  there  been  such  intense  interest  felt  in 
uny  presidential  election  before.  Never  had  there  been  any 
such  reason  for  it,  when  the  success  of  one  party  was  to 
revolutionize  the  principles  of  the  government,  so  far  as  it 
recognized  "all  men  as  free  and  equal"  before  the  law  and 
possessed  of  "certain  unalienable  rights,"  and  was  to 
change  entirely  in  this  respect  the  future  policy  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  when  the  success  of  another  party  threatened 
to  break  up  the  Union.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
struggle  was  a  fierce  one,  engaging  the  ability,  the  principle, 
the  passion  of  the  whole  land,  and  attracting  the  attention 
from  other  lands  of  those  who  wished  well  to  our  free 
government,  or  feared  the  influence  of  its  success  upon 
other  forms  of  government. 

The  result  of  this  presidential  election  of  November  6, 
1860,  was  that  Mr.  Lincoln  carried  17  of  the  33  States,  and 
received  180  out  of  the  303  electoral  votes,  and  out  of 
the  popular  vote  of  more  than  four  million  and  a  half 
(4,645,390),  he  had  a  plurality  over  Mr.  Douglas  of  half  a 
million  (566,036). 


62  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Here  opens  a  new  period  in  our  history,  more  important, 
than  any  other,  unless  it  was  the  framing  of  our  Constitu 
tion  and  the  organization  of  the  government.  And  while 
that  required  such  wisdom  and  regard  for  human  rights, 
and  fair  adjustment  of  all  conflicting  interests,  as  will  make 
it  forever  memorable  in  the  framing  of  human  institutions; 
this  new  period  is  to  require  different  and  more  heroic 
qualities  than  even  those,  if,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
44  this  nation,  under  God,  was  to  have  a  new  birth  of  free 
dom,  and  that  the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,  should  not  perish  from  off  the  earth." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SECESSION  MOVEMENT. 

Its  Growth  Traced  from  the  Nullification  Days — Breaking  Up  of 
Mr.  Buchanan's  Cabinet — His  Own  Partial  Change  of  Opinion — 
How  and  Why  South  Carolina  Forced  Secession— Most  of  the 
Slave  States  Averse  to  It. 

Secession  began  thirty  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  when  South  Carolina  undertook  to  nullify  the  revenue 
laws  under  the  old  tariff,  and  would  have  resorted  to 
violence  had  it  not  have  been  for  Mr.  Webster  in  the 
Senate,  and  General  Jackson  in  the  presidency.  The  one 
carried  the  nation  with  him  in  his  argument  to  prove  the 
unconstitutionality  of  such  a  measure,  or  the  safety  of  any 
such  mode  of  redressing  wrongs,  and  the  other  on  some 
great  occasion  swore  his  solemn  oath  that  "  the  Union  must 
and  shall  be  preserved." 

But  no  such  man  was  at  the  head  of  the  government 
now.  Mr.  Buchanan,  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  of  the  new  members  to  Congress,  had  shown  that  the 
people  had  repudiated  his  pro-slavery  schemes,  still  insisted 
upon  their  adoption.  When  Congress  came  together  in 
December,  1860,  he  sent  in  that  "mischievous  and  deplor 
able  message,"  as  it  has  been  justly  termed,  which  encour 
aged  the  South  to  push  on  their  secession  and  war  measures, 
until  they  were  compelled  to  fight  the  government.  Most 
likely  they  would  have  done  it  in  any  case,  but  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  they  had  such  encouragement  to  think  they 
could  do  it  with  impunity.  In  this  message  he  attributed 
the  threatened  dissolution  of  the  Union  to  the  "  violent  and 
incessant  agitation  of  the  slavery  questions  throughout  the 


64  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

North  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,"  apparently  uncon 
scious  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  attempt  to  force  slavery  upon 
Kansas,  or  that  these  measures  were  a  sufficient  cause  for 
such  agitation  and  discussion.  He  held  that  while  the 
election  of  a  President  by  one  class  of  citizens,  who  is  objec 
tionable  to  another  class,  "does  not  afford  just  cause  for 
dissolving  the  Union,"  there  may  be  such  a  cause,  and 
refers  as  such  a  cause  to  "the  palpable  violations  of  con 
stitutional  duty  by  different  State  legislatures  to  defeat  the 
execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law."  He  denies  the  right 
of  secession,  and  makes  a  good  argument  against  it,  but 
neutralizes  it  all,  and  worse  than  neutralizes  it,  by  telling 
the  South  that  if  they  do  secede  the  government  has  no 
right  to  use  force  to  prevent  it.  "  Congress  possesses  many 
means  for  preserving  the  Union  by  conciliation,  but  the 
sword  was  not  placed  in  its  hands  to  preserve  it  by  force." 
He  justifies  revolution,  though  not  secession,  saying :  "  The 
right  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  governed  against  the 
oppression  of  their  governments  cannot  be  denied."  So 
that  the  South  had  only  to  call  their  secession,  revolution, 
as  they  virtually  did,  to  justify  it,  and  feel  safe  from  any 
serious  interference  from  an  administration  that  conceived 
it  had  no  right  to  use  force  to  prevent  it.  The  remedy  pro 
posed  by  the  President  was  an  explanatory  amendment  of 
the  Constitution,  which  there  was  no  prospect  of  ever 
securing,  so  that  this  message  brought  no  relief  to  the 
North,  and  only  left  the  South  to  call  their  proposed  seces 
sion  a  revolution,  and  prosecute  it  with  vigor  as  long  as 
this  administration  should  last,  knowing  that  they  were  to 
expect  no  serious  hindrance  from  this  quarter,  whatever 
might  be  feared  from  the  incoming  administration. 

This  position,  however,  could  not  long  be  maintained. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Buchanan's  message  indicated  the  division  in 
his  own  cabinet,  where  the  Secessionists  had  carried  their 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  65 

point,  but  where  the  Union  sentiment  of  the  country  was 
beginning  to  be  felt  and  was  bound  to  express  itself. 
General  Cass,  Mr.  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  State,  had 
become  satisfied  that  such  a  position  was  abetting  treason, 
and  would  only  end  in  breaking  up  the  government.  He 
was  a  life-long  Democrat,  an  able  and  honored  leader  of  his 
party,  deserving  of  an  honorable  place  in  the  history  of  the 
government,  and  now  in  his  old  age  to  be  mixed  up  with 
treason,  and  implicated  in  what  threatened  to  be  the  dis 
solution  of  the  Union,  was  more  than  he  could  bear.  When 
he  found  that  the  President  would  not  insist  upon  the  col 
lection  of  the  national  revenue  in  South  Carolina,  or  upon 
strengthening  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor,  he  resigned. 
Judge  Black,  a  younger  and  more  brilliant  man,  in  the 
prime  of  his  political  manhood  and  ambition,  who  was  Mr. 
Buchanan's  Attorney-General,  and  had  been  in  a  large 
degree  responsible  for  the  President's  pro-slavery  positions, 
succeeded  General  Cass  at  the  head  of  the  State  depart 
ment.  Startled  by  the  retreat  of  his  predecessor,  and  by 
the  gulf  that  yawned  before  him,  and  satisfied  that  his 
position  was  a  wrong  one  and  that  he  had  been  misleading 
the  President,  he  nobly  resolved  to  retrace  his  steps  and 
save  the  administration  if  possible,  but  at  any  rate  to  save 
the  Union  and  the  government.  The  cabinet  was  a  nest  of 
conspiracy,  where  such  men  as  Cobb,  Floyd,  and  Thompson 
were  disarming  the  North  and  robbing  the  treasury,  and 
where  Davis,  Toombs,  Benjamin,  and  Slidell  of  the  Senate, 
had  a  controlling  influence.  But  the  President,  who  always 
had  great  respect  for  Judge  Black,  and  had  been  guided 
by  his  counsels,  became  convinced  that  he  was  ruining  his 
administration,  if  not  breaking  up  the  government.  So  his 
secretary,  together  with  Mr.  Holt,  a  Southern  man,  but  a 
loyal  one,  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton  who  soon  became  such  a 
pillar  of  strength  to  the  government,  and  who  had  just 
become  Attorney-General,  were  allowed  to  frame  an  answer 


66  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

to  the  mischievous  message  already  sent  in  to  Congress.  In 
this  new  message  of  January  8,  1861,  the  President  qual 
ifies  the  former  one  as  well  as  he  is  able,  though  without 
much  success,  but  here  takes  one  advanced  and  just  position, 
where,  without  any  reference  to  his  fatal  admission  that  the 
government  could  use  no  force  to  prevent  secession,  he  now 
claims  that  aas  the  chief  executive  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,"  he  has  no  alternative  but  "to  collect 
the  public  revenues,  and  to  protect  the  public  property,  so 
far  as  this  might  be  practicable  under  existing  laws."  And 
he  declares  it  as  his  own  conviction  that  "the  right  and 
duty  to  use  military  force  defensively  against  those  who 
resist  the  Federal  officers  in  the  execution  of  their  legal 
functions,  and  against  thuse  who  assail  the  property  of  the 
Federal  government,  are  clear  and  undeniable."  Even  this 
admission  gave  hope  to  the  North,  and  roused  the  South  to 
deeper  indignation  than  ever.  But  what  did  most  to  inspire 
such  sentiments  was  the  indication  it  gave  that  the  con 
spirators  had  been  driven  out  of  the  cabinet,  and  that  the 
chief  movers  in  secession  had  lost  control  of  the  President. 
It  was  well  received  at  the  North,  and  in  the  spirit  of  con 
ciliation  the  people  were  disposed  to  abstain  from  all  that 
was  needlessly  irritating,  and  to  make  any  reasonable 
adjustments  for  the  sake  of  peace.  Some  of  the  Legis 
latures  were  repealing  their  personal  liberty  laws,  the  most 
objectionable  and  perhaps  the  most  illegal  of  any. 

But  secession  was  making  rapid  progress,  and  the  leaders 
in  the  movement,  particularly  in  South  Carolina,  without 
waiting  to  see  what  would  be  the  disposition  of  the  new 
administration,  and  what  position  Mr.  Lincoln  would  take 
in  regard  to  the  questions  at  issue,  were  bent  on  precip 
itating  a  conflict  of  force  between  that  State  and  the  general 
government.  The  governor  of  the  Stale,  in  his  message  to 
the  State  Legislature,  dated  the  day  before  the  presidential 
election  took  place,  says: — 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  67 

In  view  of  the  threatened  aspect  of  affairs,  and  the  strong 
probability  of  the  election  to  the  presidency  of  a  sectional  candidate, 
by  a  party  committed  to  the  support  of  measures  which,  if  carried 
out,  will  inevitably  destroy  our  equality  in  the  Union,  and  ultimately 
reduce  the  Southern  States  to  mere  provinces  of  a  consolidated 
despotism,  to  be  governed  by  a  fixed  majority  in  Congress  hostile  to 
our  institutions  and  fatally  bent  upon  our  ruin,  I  would  respect 
fully  suggest  that  the  Legislature  remain  in  session,  and  take  such 
action  as  will  prepare  the  State  for  any  emergency  that  may  arise. 
I  would  earnestly  recommend  that  in  the  event  of  Abraham  Lincoln's 
election  to  the  presidency,  a  convention  of  the  people  be  imme 
diately  called,  to  consider  and  determine  for  themselves  the  mode 
and  measure  of  redress.  I  am  constrained  to  say  that  the  only 
alternative  left,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  secession  of  South  Carolina 
from  the  Federal  Union.  The  State  has  with  great  unanimity  declared 
that  she  has  the  right  peaceably  to  secede,  and  no  power  on  earth  can 
rightfully  prevent  it.  If  in  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  and  for- 
getfulness  of  the  lessons  of  history,  the  government  of  the  United 
States  should  attempt  coercion,  it  will  become  our  solemn  duty  to 
meet  force  by  force.— [Governor  Gist's  Message,  November  5,  18GO. 

So  he  recommends  that  "the  services  of  ten  thousand 
volunteers  be  immediately  accepted,  that  they  be  organized 
and  drilled  by  officers  chosen  by  themselves,  and  hold  them 
selves  in  readiness  to  be  called  on  upon  the  shortest  notice." 
Hon.  James  Chestnut,  Jr.,  one  of  their  senators  in  Con 
gress,  at  the  same  time  gave  such  counsel  as  this  to  the 
people:  "The  question  was,  Should  the  South  submit  to 
a  black  Republican  President  and  a  black  Republican  Con 
gress  ?  For  myself,  I  would  unfurl  the  palmetto  flag, 
fling  it  to  the  breeze,  and,  with  the  spirit  of  a  brave  man, 
determine  to  live  and  die  as  became  our  glorious  ancestors." 
Hon.  William  W.  Boyce,  then  a  leading  representative  of 
that  State  in  Congress,  thus  counsels  them :  "  I  think  the 
only  policy  for  us  is  to  arm  as  soon  as  we  receive  authentic 
intelligence  of  the  election  of  Lincoln."  Such  counsel  and 
such  measures  were  proposed,  it  should  be  observed,  before 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  elected,  or  before  the  news  of  it  had 
been  received  at  Charleston.  And  when  the  news  came,  it 
seems  to  have  been  a  source  of  general  satisfaction,  instead 


68  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

of  regret,  judging  from  the   Charleston    papers    and    the 
reporters  for  other  papers  who  were  there.     The  people 
thronged  the  streets,  talking,  laughing,  cheering,  and  con 
gratulating  one  another,  as  if  the  State  could  now  be  urged 
on  into  violent  resistance  of  the  general  government,  and 
the  other  slave  States  be  compelled  to  stand  by  them  in 
defence  of  the  position  they  had  taken.     As  the  people 
were  told  at  the  time :     "  The  first  drop  of  blood  spilled  on 
the  soil  of  South  Carolina  will  bring  Virginia  and  every 
Southern  State  with  them."     So  the  secession  of  the  State 
was  pushed  on  with  unseemly  haste,  as  if  it  required  neither 
wisdom,  nor  prudence,  nor  harmonious  support  from  the 
other  States  that  were  finally  dragged  into  it.     As  has  been 
said:    "The   unnatural  and  unprecedented  haste   of   this 
action,  by  which  South  Carolina  proceeded,  is  more  easily 
comprehended  by  recalling  the  difficult  mode  provided  in 
every  State  for  a  change  in  its  Constitution.     In  not  a 
single  State  of  the  American  Union  can  an  organic  law  be 
changed  in  less  than  a  year,  or  without  ample  opportunity 
for  serious   consideration   by   the   people.     At   that   very 
moment  the  people  of  South   Carolina  were  forbidden  to 
make  the  slightest  alteration  in  their  own  Constitution, 
except  by  slow  and  conservative  processes,  which  gave  time 
for  deliberation  and  reflection.     In  determining  a  question 
momentous  beyond  all  calculation  to  themselves  and  to 
their  posterity,  they  were  hurried  into  the  election  of  del 
egates,  and  the  delegates  were  hurried  into  convention,  and 
the  convention  was  hurried  into  secession,  by  a  terror  of 
public  opinion  that  would  endure  no  resistance,  or  would 
not  listen  to  reason."     The  rashness  and  mad  haste  which 
characterized  their  proceedings  are  shown  in  the  fact  that 
within  a  week  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  known, 
the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  had  enacted  a  bill  for  the 
election  of    delegates  to  a  secession  convention  and  the 
election  was  to  take  place  within  a  month,  and  that  conven- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  69 

tion  was  held,  and  had  taken  the  State  out  of  the  Union, 
all  within  fifty  days.  The  presidential  election  took  place 
November  6th:  the  bill  for  the  election  of  delegates  was 
passed  the  12th;  the  election  took  place  the  6th  of 
December;  the  secession  convention  met  the  17th;  and 
four  days  after,  South  Carolina  had  enacted  her  solemn 
"ordinance  of  secession"  without  a  single  dissenting  vote. 
Its  title  was :  "  An  ordinance  to  dissolve  the  union  between 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  and  the  other  States  united 
with  her  under  the  compact  entitled  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  of  America.'*  Nor  did  they  seem  to  consider 
it  necessary  to  give  any  particular  and  justifying  reasons 
for  their  secession  or  rebellion,  call  it  which  we  may,  or  con 
sider  how  they  would  appear  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
in  coming  history.  Our  fathers,  when  they  drew  up  and 
published  to  the  world  their  Declaration  of  Independence, 
thought  "a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind 
requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel 
them  to  the  separation."  And  they  recite  twenty  or  thirty 
distinct  charges  of  oppression  and  tyranny  on  the  part  of 
the  mother  country,  as  contrary  to  the  fundamental  laws  of 
the  realm,  if  not  a  violation  of  the  natural  and  inalienable 
rights  of  humanity,  which  justify  them  in  undertaking  a 
better  system  of  self-government.  In  the  secession  ordi 
nance  no  reasons  are  given  for  it,  and  in  the  organization 
of  the  Confederate  government,  which  took  place  a  little 
later,  little  justification  of  it  is  offered  more  than  that  the 
North  would  not  accept  slavery,  and  they  were  afraid  it 
would  be  hemmed  in  within  its  established  and  constitu 
tional  limits,  which  was  certainly  quite  as  much  of  a  justifi 
cation  of  the  course  of  the  free  States  as  of  the  slave 
States.  Nor  did  they  seem  to  have  any  definite  plan  of  a 
government  for  themselves  when  they  should  have  with 
drawn  from  the  Union,  except  that  it  should  be  Republican 
in  form,  like  the  old  one,  but  should  chiefly  protect  and 


70  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

foster  their  favorite  institution,  instead  of  freedom,  and  be 
at  liberty  to  annex  foreign  territory  for  its  extension,  and 
reopen  the  African  slave  trade  to  furnish  cheaper  slave 
labor.  They  did  not  even  wait  before  they  seceded,  till 
they  were  sure  of  the  support  of  the  other  slave  States. 
North  Carolina  when  consulted  positively  refused  to  take 
any  hasty  steps.  Louisiana,  knowing  her  dependence  upon 
the  trade  of  the  Mississippi  river,  expressed  an  utter  disin 
clination  to  separate  from  the  Northwest.  Georgia  would 
agree  to  some  retaliatory  legislation,  but  was  not  ready  to 
resist  the  general  government.*  And  in  her  secession  con 
vention,  called  on  purpose  to  take  her  out  of  the  Union,  it 
was  only  accomplished  by  a  vote  of  165  to  130  against  it. 
Thus  when  the  Confederate  government  was  organized,  it 
was  made  up  of  only  seven  States  of  the  fifteen  slave  States 
and  the  District  of  Columbia,  with  no  prospect  whatever 
that  any  one  of  the  eighteen  free  States  would  ever  join 
them.  As  has  been  said:  "After  the  conspiracy  had  had 
complete  possession  of  the  public  mind  for  three  months, 
with  the  Southern  members  of  the  cabinet,  nearly  all  the 
Federal  officers,  most  of  the  governors,  and  other  State 
functionaries,  and  seven-eighths  of  the  prominent  and 
active  politicians,  pushing  it  on,  and  no  force  exerted  to 
resist  it,  a  majority  of  the  slave  States,  with  two-thirds 
of  the  free  population  of  the  entire  slaveholding  region, 
was  openly  or  positively  averse  to  it,  either  because  they 
regarded  the  alleged  grievances  of  the  South  as  exaggerated 
if  not  unreal,  or  because  they  believed  that  those  wrongs 
would  rather  be  aggravated  than  cured  by  disunion  " 
whatever  fearlessness  and  disregard  of  consequences  were 
exhibited,  and  might  have  been  justified  in  a  better  cause, 

*  During  the  session  of  the  convention,  the  president  announced  an  address 
from  a  portion  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  which  he  thought  should  not,  be 
made  public,  and  it  was  not,  but  was  afterwards  understood  to  be  an  appeal  from 
fifty-two  of  the  members  of  that  body  for  delay  and  consultation  among  the  slave 
States—  [Greeley,  Vol.  I,  p.  345. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  71 

where  truth  and  righteousness  and  freedom  demanded 
any  risk  and  every  sacrifice,  the  cause  which  inspired 
such  reckless  courage  commands  no  respect  whatever,  and 
such  an  undertaking  must  stand  in  history  as  a  warning 
rather  than  any  encouragement  to  the  friends  of  freedom 
and  popular  government.  The  truth  is  the  Confederate 
government  was  never  adopted  hy  the  people.  It  was  never 
submitted  to  them  for  adoption,  but  soon  became  a  military 
despotism. 

The  question  at  once  arises :  How  could  such  a  state  of 
things  have  been  brought  about  ?  And  why  was  South 
Carolina  so  willing  to  lead  off  in  such  a  reckless  enter 
prise  ?  She  was  not  only  interested  with  the  other  slave 
States  in  preserving  slavery,  and  annoyed  like  the  rest  that 
the  free  States  should  think  that  system  wrong,  and  pro 
voked  beyond  measure  that  the  free  States  would  not  allow 
them  to  take  such  property  into  free  territory  and  hold  it 
there  as  they  would  in  slave  territory,  but  South  Carolina, 
that  proud  and  sensitive  people,  had  always  been  mortified 
by  the  failure  of  her  attempt  to  nullify  the  revenue  laws  of 
the  general  government.  She  had  had  many  able  men  in 
the  public  service,  and  been  almost  as  much  as  Virginia 
the  mother  of  statesmen.  Unfortunately  one  of  her  ablest, 
Mr.  Calhoun,  had  adopted  a  theory  of  state  rights,  which 
Mr.  Webster  so  plainly  showed  was  inconsistent  with  any 
general  government.  And  when  Southern  men  like  General 
Jackson  were  convinced  of  it,  and  men  of  both  sections 
and  all  parties  joined  in  asserting  such  a  political  heresy, 
and  this  State  had  to  submit,  and  rest  under  the  implication 
of  treason  toward  the  government,  she  never  could  forget 
it,  or  fail  to  watch  for  an  opportunity  to  feed  her  revenge. 
Knowing  also  that  the  South  was  not  likely  to  deliberately 
go  into  any  such  movement  again,  it  was  determined  to 
take  advantage  of  the  long  and  bitter  contest  over  the 
extension  of  slavery,  to  get  out  of  the  Union  at  any  cost, 


72  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

even  conflict  and  civil  war.  She  hardly  thought,  and  found 
reason  for  it  in  the  President's  last  message  and  the  posi 
tion  of  the  Administration  party,  that  the  North  would 
never  really  go  to  war  to  save  the  Union.  And  if  she 
resorted  to  violence,  and  became  involved  in  a  struggle  for 
her  own  rights,  and  for  their  common  institution  which 
was  in  peril,  the  other  slave  States  must  come  to  her  help. 
So  her  great  endeavor  was  to  alarm  and  inflame  the  South. 
She  was  more  than  half  glad  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been 
elected.  Now  was  the  time  if  ever  to  avenge  her  wrongs 
and  get  out  of  the  Union.  She  was  almost  afraid  the 
North  would  not  fight :  "  We  must  throw  blood  in  their 
faces  to  make  them."  So  they  set  to  work,  through  the 
Secession  members  of  the  President's  cabinet,  to  strip  the 
Northern  arsenals,  scatter  our  army  and  navy,  seize  upon 
the  national  forts,  navy  yards  and  public  property,  expecting 
to  carry  out  their  plans  successfully,  if  not  with  impunity. 

It  was  a  plan,  a  long-laid  plan,  a  conspiracy,  a  treason 
able  plot  to  accomplish  this  very  end,  and  by  violence  and 
war  if  necessary.  Thus  Mr.  Rhett  of  Charleston,  eminent 
in  the  public  service  of  the  State,  declared  in  their  Secession 
convention :  "  The  secession  of  South  Carolina  is  not  an 
event  of  a  day.  It  is  not  anything  produced  by  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  election,  or  by  the  non-execution  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law.  It  is  a  matter  which  has  been  gathering  head 
for  thirty  years."  And  Mr.  Parker,  another  member  of 
the  convention,  said  :  "It  is  no  spasmodic  effort  that  has 
come  suddenly  upon  us  ;  it  has  been  gradually  culminating 
for  a  long  period  of  thirty  years.  At  last  it  has  come  to 
that  point  where  we  may  say  the  matter  is  entirely  ripe." 
This  means  that  ever  since  their  nullification  scheme  failed 
they  had  been  planning  another  secession  or  rebellion,  and 
that  the  opportunity  for  which  they  had  so  long  been  wait 
ing  had  come  and  should  be  seized  upon  gladly.  On  this 
point  Mr.  Greeley  says: — 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  73 

A  convention  of  Southern  governors  was  held  at  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  at 
the  invitation  of  Governor  Wise  of  Virginia,  in  1856.  This  gathering 
was  kept  secret  at  the  time,  but  it  was  afterwards  proclaimed  by 
Governor  Wise  that  had  Fremont  been  elected  he  would  have  marched 
at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men  to  Washington,  and  taken 
possession  of  the  Capitol,  and  prevented  Fremont's  inauguration 
there  by  force.  In  the  same  spirit  a  meeting  of  the  prominent 
politicians  of  South  Carolina  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Senator 
Hammond,  near  Augusta,  in  October,  1860.  Governor  Gist,  ex-Gov 
ernor  Adams,  ex-Speaker  Orr,  and  the  entire  delegation  to  Congress, 
except  Mr.  Miles  who  was  kept  away  by  sickness,  were  present  with 
many  other  men  of  rank.  By  this  cabal  it  was  unanimously  agreed, 
that  South  Carolina  should  secede  from  the  Union  in  the  event  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  then  almost  certain  election.  Similar  meetings  of 
kindred  spirits  were  held  simultaneously,  or  soon  after,  in  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Florida,  and  probably  other  slave  States.  By 
these  meetings,  and  by  the  incessant  interchange  of  messages,  let 
ters,  and  visits,  the  entire  slaveholding  region  had  been  prepared, 
so  far  as  possible,  for  disunion  in  the  event  of  a  Republican,  if  not 
also  a  Douglas  triumph. — [Greeley's  American  Conflict,  Vol.  I.  p.  329. 

The  instigators  and  leaders  in  it  were  Howel  Cobb,  Presi 
dent  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  bankrupted 
the  treasury  and  then  resigned ;  John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary 
of  War,  who  disarmed  the  North  to  arm  the  South  before 
he  resigned;  Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
in  whose  department  a  defalcation  of  nearly  a  million  of 
dollars  was  discovered  when  he  surrendered  his  office  to 
Jefferson  Davis,  senator  from  Mississippi,  who  became 
President  of  the  Confederacy ;  Robert  Toombs,  senator 
from  Georgia,  the  most  insolent  of  all  in  his  treason  ;  Judah 
P.  Benjamin,  senator  from  Louisiana,  the  most  astute  and 
brilliant  of  that  body  of  men,  and  John  Slidell.  the  Cataline 
of  the  conspiracy.  Such  were  the  men  at  whose  instigation 
and  under  whose  leadership  this  fearful  step  was  taken,  and 
Charleston  was  the  spot  where  such  counsel  was  carried  out 
to  its  awful  results.  So  that  it  might  have  been  said  at 
the  outset,  with  almost  prophetic  exactness :  "  The  rebel 
lion  which  begins  where  Charleston  is  shall  end  where 
Charleston  was." 


CHAPTER  V. 

PEACE  CONVENTION. 

The  Connecticut  Delegation  in  the  Washington  Convention— Governor 
Buckingham's  Letter  of  Instructions— Connecticut's  Proposition 
for  a  Convention  on  Amendment  of  the  Constitution — The  Atti 
tude  of  Virginia  and  the  Report  in  Congress. 

Ever  since  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  was  assured,  and  the 
South  showed  such  a  determination  not  to  submit  to  it,  the 
North  had  taken  special  pains  to  placate  them.     And  it 
was  not  merely  the  Democratic  party,  who  with  the  South 
had  lost  the  election,  nor  was  it  the  business  portion  of 
the  North  only,  who  had  great  pecuniary  interests  at  stake. 
The  Northern  people  as  a  mass,  and  their  statesmen  and 
the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  were  wonderfully  con 
ciliatory.     To  be  sure  it  was  attributed  to  self-interest  and 
fear,  and  the  South  was  led  to  think  that  we  could  never 
prosper  without  them,  and  were  certainly  too  base  minded 
and  craven  hearted   to   fight  for  any  principles,  however 
much  we  might  profess  to  value  them.     Nor  was  it  strange, 
perhaps,  though  it  was  inexpressibly  sad,  that  in  their  mad 
ness  and  insane  purpose  to  break  up  the  Union,  they  should 
have  had  such  encouragement  to-  do  so  from  the  President's 
first   message,   from    the    "  peace  meetings "  held  at  the 
North,  from  some  of  the  party  conventions,  and  from  por 
tions  of  the  Northern  press.     The  President  found  at  first 
no  power  in  the  Constitution  to  repress  secession,  or  even 
hold  by  force  the  fortifications  and  public  property  in  the 
seceding  States.     At  one  of  the  largest  and  most  imposing 
of  the  "  peace  meetings,"  held  in  Philadelphia  at  the  close 
of  1860,  and  called  by  the  city  government,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted  : — 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  75 

"  Resolved,  That  the  people  of  Philadelphia  pledge  themselves  to 
the  citizens  of  the  other  States,  that  the  statute  books  of  Pennsyl 
vania  shall  be  carefully  searched  at  the  approaching  session  of  the 
Legislature,  and  that  every  statute,  if  any  such  there  be,  which  in  the 
slightest  degree,  invades  the  constitutional  rights  of  citizens  of  a 
sister  State,  will  be  at  once  repealed;  and  that  Pennsylvania,  ever 
loyal  to  the  Union  and  liberal  in  construing  her  obligations  to  it,  will 
be  faithful  always  in  her  obedience  to  its  requirements. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  obligations  of  the  Act  of  Con 
gress  of  1850,  commonly  known  as  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  submit 
cheerfully  to  its  faithful  enforcement;  and  that  we  point  with  pride 
and  satisfaction  to  the  recent  conviction  and  punishment  iu  this  city 
of  Philadelphia  of  those  who  had  broken  its  provisions  by  aiding  in 
the  attempted  rescue  of  a  slave  as  proof  that  Philadelphia  is  faithful 
in  her  obedience  to  the  law;  and  furthermore,  we  recommend  to  the 
Legislature  of  our  own  State,  the  passage  of  a  law  which  shall  give 
compensation,  in  case  of  the  rescue  of  a  captured  slave,  by  the  county 
in  which  such  capture  occurs,  precisely  as  is  now  done  by  existing 
laws  in  case  of  destruction  of  property  by  violence  of  mobs. 

"  Resolved,  That  as  to  the  question  of  the  recognition  of  slaves  as 
property,  and  as  to  the  question  of  the  rights  of  slaveholders  in  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  the  people  of  Philadelphia  submit 
themselves  obediently  and  cheerfully  to  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  whether  now  made  or  hereafter  to  be 
made,  and  they  pledge  themselves  faithfully  to  observe  the  Constitu 
tion  in  these  respects,  as  the  same  has  been  or  may  be  expounded  by 
that  august  tribunal.  And  further,  they  recommend  that  whatever 
points  of  doubt  exist  touching  these  subjects  be,  in  some  lawful  and 
amicable  way,  forthwith  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  said  court, 
and  that  its  opinion  be  accepted  as  the  final  and  authoritative  solution 
of  all  doubts  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  on  controverted 
points. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  denunciations  of  slavery  as  existing  in  the 
United  States,  and  of  our  fellow  citizens  who  maintain  that  institu 
tion,  and  who  hold  slaves  under  it,  are  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood  and  kindness  which  ought  to  animate  all  who  live  under 
and  profess  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  American  Union." 

It  is  hardly  strange  that  the  Secessionists  should  have 
thought  Philadelphia  approved  of  their  course,  and  had 
more  sympathy  with  them  than  with  the  anti-slavery  senti 
ment  of  the  North  in  the  struggle  between  freedom  and 
slavery.  And  if,  as  has  been  said,  General  Lee  never  would 
have  invaded  Pennsylvania  and  been  compelled  to  fijrht  the 


76  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

battle  of  Gettysburg  had  he  not  expected  to  find  sympathy 
enough  there  to  effect  some  compromise  and  compel  a 
peace,  it  were  not  surprising. 

1  Nor  were  the  political  peace  conventions  any  wiser  or 
more  successful.  As  the  former  were  too  much  influenced 
by  business  considerations,  these  paid  too  great  regard,  in 
what  they  said  and  did,  to  its  effect  upon  their  party.  The 
most  noticeable  of  these  was  the  Democratic  State  Conven 
tion,  assembled  in  Tweddle  Hall,  Albany,  the  last  day  of 
January,  1861,  remarkable  for  the  number  of  its  members 
who  had  been  members  of  Congress,  governors  or  candi 
dates  for  that  office,  judges,  an  ex-chancellor,  state  officers 
and  members  of  the  Legislature.  The  object  of  the  con 
vention,  as  stated  by  its  chairman,  was  the  peaceful  settle 
ment  of  the  questions  which  have  led  to  disunion,  and 
seemingly  without  much  regard  to  the  terms  of  settlement. 
••  The  people  of  this  State  demand  the  peaceful  settlement 
of  the  questions  that  have  led  to  disunion.  They  have  a 
right  to  insist  that  there  shall  be  conciliation,  concession, 
compromise."  What  the  difficulties  were  supposed  to  be 
in  the  way  of  such  a  settlement,  and  what  concessions  and 
compromises  were  recommended,  are  learned  from  the 
speakers  who  followed.  Gov.  Horatio  Seymour  seemed, 
like  President  Buchanan,  to  attribute  secession  mainly  to 
the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  slavery  at  the  North,  and  to 
well-nigh  justify  it  on  that  ground,  forgetful  of  the  attempt 
of  the  South,  with  the  aid  of  Northern  partisans,  to  impose 
slavery  upon  Kansas  by  fraud,  and  to  extend  it  by  the 
Dred- Scott  Decision  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  where  by 
the  Constitution  and  by  solemn  compacts  it  had  been  for 
ever  excluded.  "  The  agitation  of  the  question  of  slavery," 
he  says,  "  has  thus  far  brought  greater  social,  moral,  and 
legislative  evils  upon  the  people  of  the  free  States  than  it 
has  upon  the  institutions  of  those  against  whom  it  has 
been  excited.  The  wisdom  of  Franklin  stamped  upon  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

first  coin  issued  by  the  government,  the  wise  motto,  <  Mind 
your  business.'      The    violation  of    this    homely   proverb, 
which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  doctrines  of  local  rights, 
has  thus  far  proved  more  hurtful  to  the  meddlers  in  t 
affairs  of  others,  than  to  those  against  whom  this  pragmatic 
action  is  directed."     He  allows  the  government  no  powei 
of  coercion  to  prevent  secession,  and  says  that  coercic 
«  if  successfully  used  by  the  North,  would    be  as  revolu 
tionary  as  successful  secession  by  the  South." 
it  an  "  act  of    folly   and  madness    in  entering    upon  this 
contest  to  underrate  our  opponents  and  thus  subject  our 
selves  to  the  disgrace  of  defeat  in  an  inglorious  warfare.' 
The  only  thing  we  can  do  in  his  estimation,  is  to  compro 
mise,  and  compromise  upon  any  .terms.      <  The  question  i 
simply  this  :    Shall  we  have  compromise  after  war,  or  c 
promise  without  war?"      There  was  one   member  of  the 
convention,  however,  Judge  Clinton,  who  insisted  upon  i 
that  there  was  "  no  such  thing  as  legal  secession  ;" 
was  "  rebellion,"  neither  more  nor  less.     And  when  inter 
rupted  by  cries  from  the  audience  :  "  No  !  No  !  Revolution  ! ' 
he  nobly  replied  :  "  It  is  rebellion  ;  rebellion  against  the 
noblest    government  that   man  ever    framed    for  his  own 
benefit  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  world."     And  he  went  • 
to  add :  "  I  for  one  have  venerated  Andrew  Jackson,  and 
my  blood  boiled  in  old  time  when  that  brave  patriot  and 
soldier  of  democracy  said :  <  The  Union,  it  must  and  shall 
be  preserved.'      Preserve  it!     Preserve  it!     Why  should 
we  preserve  it,  if  it  would  be  the  thing  that  these  gentle 
men  would  make  it?     Why  should  we  love  a  government 
that  has  no  dignity  and  no  power  ?     Admit  the  doctrine, 
and  we  have  a  government  that  no  man  who  is  a  freeman 
ought  to  be  content  to  live  under.     Admit  it,  and  any  State 
of  its  own  sovereign  will  may  retire  from  the  Union.     And 
when  you  would  say  we  cannot  use  force  to  protect  the 
property  of  the  United  States,  to  retain  it  in  our  possession, 


78  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

or  to  collect  our  revenue  for  the  common  benefit  and  the 
payment  of  the  common  debt,  I  am  not  prepared  to  thus 
humble  the  general  government  at  the  feet  of  the  seceding 
States.  I  am  unwilling  to  say  to  the  government :  '  You 
must  abandon  your  property;  you  must  cease  to  collect 
the  revenues  because  you  are  threatened.'"  Such  was  not 
the  spirit  of  the  convention,  but  the  sentiment  of  their 
resolutions  was,  that  government  had  no  right  to  use  coer 
cion  to  prevent  secession  ;  that  this  could  only  be  accom 
plished  by  concessions  and  compromises,  and  that  "  it 
would  be  monstrous  to  refuse  them,"  without  any  seeming 
regard  to  what  they  might  be,  even  to  the  granting  of  the 
highest  demands  of  the  South  for  the  extension  and  encour 
agement  of  slavery.  The  influence  of  such  a  position  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  that  great  and  influential  State  at 
such  a  critical  time  was  most  encouraging  to  the  seceding 
States,  and  equally  discouraging  to  the  incoming  adminis 
tration.  It  was  a  position  which  the  State  refused  to  hold 
and  nobly  redeemed  her  loyalty  to  the  government. 

The  most  important  convention  of  this  kind,  however, 
was  the  "  peace  convention  "  at  Washington.  It  came 
together  on  the  4th  of  February,  1861,  just  a  month  before 
Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration,  and  was  dissolved  only  a  few 
days  before  that  event.  It  was  composed  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  commissioners,  and  twenty-one  of  the  States 
were  represented.  The  seven  States  that  had  seceded  were 
not  represented,  neither  were  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minne 
sota,  California  nor  Oregon.  The  conference  was  invited 
by  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  the  invitation  and  plan  of 
adjustment  proposed  by  Virginia  being  telegraphed  to  the 
governors  of  the  several  States.  It  was  composed  of  able 
men,  many  of  whom  were  already  eminent  in  public  life 
and  others  who  became  so,  and  the  governors  and  Legisla 
tures  had  evidently  appreciated  the  gravity  of  the  crisis, 
and  taken  pains  to  be  properly  represented.  Ex-President 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  79 

Tyler  headed  the  Virginia  delegation  and  presided  over  the 
convention. 

As  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut  was  not  in  session, 
Governor  Buckingham  had  selected  for  this  service  Roger 
S.  Baldwin,  Chauncey  F.  Cleveland,  Charles  J.  McCurdy, 
James  T.  Pratt,  Bobbins  Battell  and  Amos  S.  Treat.  Two 
of  them,  ex-Governor  Cleveland  and  General  Pratt,  had 
been  leading  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  Judge 
McCurdy  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  while  Roger  Sher 
man  Baldwin  had  shown  himself  in  Congress  and  elsewhere 
worthy  of  the  historic  name  he  bore.  The  important  part 
which  these  last  two  members  bore  in  this  convention  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  presently.  The  following 
brief  but  suggestive  letter  of  instructions  was  addressed  to 
them  by  Governor  Buckingham  :— 

Gov.  R.  S.  BALDWIN,  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  CONVENTION  COMMITTEE, 

WASHINGTON  : 

DEAR  SIR:— I  would  not  embarrass  the  action  of  yourself  and 
associates  by  any  instructions  as  to  your  duty  as  members  of  the 
convantion.  You  fitly  represent  the  love  for  the  Union  which  beats 
so  fully  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  with 
them  earnestly  desire  to  reconcile  those  differences  which  have  alien 
ated  the  different  sections  of  our  nation,  disturbed  its  peace,  and 
which  now  threaten  us  with  all  the  evils  of  revolution  and  civil  war. 

I  have  entire  confidence  that  you  will  look  at  any  questions  which 
may  be  presented  either  by  yourselves  or  others  for  the  consideration 
of  the  convention,  in  the  spirit  of  true  patriotism,  that  you  will  make 
any  concessions  that  will  restore  harmony  and  avert  the  evils  which 
threaten  us  which  are  not  inconsistent  with  principles  vital  to  a  free 
government  and  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  people. 

At  the  same  time  I  would  suggest  as  of  primary  importance  that 
you  have  special  regard  to  the  measures  which  tend  to  maintain  the 
dignity  and  authority  of  the  government,  so  that  any  citizen  shall 
feel  that  it  is,  and  is  to  be,  a  shield  to  protect  him  in  every  proper 
and  lawful  pursuit,  as  well  as  in  his  property  and  in  his  person  ;  also 
that  no  sanction  shall  be  given  to  measures  which  shall  bind  the 
government  to  new  guarantees  for  the  protection  of  property  in  men, 
a  principle  subversive  of  a  free  government. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  sentiments  of  high  consideration,  your  obe 
dient  servant,  W.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 


80  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

This  forecast  of  what  would  be  the  unyielding  demand  of 
the  South,  new  guarantees  for  slavery,  before  they  would 
consent  to  any  adjustment  of  difficulties,  and  the  just  judg 
ment  which  decided  that  any  such  arrangement  would  only 
convert  our  free  republic  into  one  slave  empire  and  make 
our  ruin  sure,  characterizes  these  instructions.  It  was  this 
view  of  the  subject,  confirmed  by  the  subsequent  action  of 
that  convention,  which  led  Governor  Buckingham  soon 
after,  when  President  Lincoln  made  his  first  call  for  75,000 
troops,  to  write  him  that  if  he  had  appreciated  the  spirit 
and  resources  of  the  South,  he  would  have  called  for  many 
more  if  he  expected  to  put  down  that  rebellion. 

The  proceedings  of  the  peace  convention  were  conducted 
in  secret,  but  the  injunction  of  secrecy  was  removed  at  the 
close  of  the  sessions,  and  Mr.  Chittenden,  one  of  the  dele 
gates  from  Vermont,  published  a  full  and  trustworthy 
report  of  its  discussions  and  doings,  making  a  volume  of 
six  hundred  pages,  full  of  information  and  interest  to  those 
who  would  understand  the  position  and  disposition  of  the 
North  and  the  South  when  the  war  broke  out.  Virginia,  in 
her  invitation  to  the  other  States  to  come  together  for  such 
a  conference,  urged  it  in  the  interests  of  peace  and  to  prevent 
war,  and  laid  down  the  terms  upon  which,  and  upon  which 
alone,  the  South  would  agree  to  adjust  their  differences 
with  the  North.  Nor  from  these  did  she,  or  the  other  South 
ern  States  represented,  ever  recede.  They  demanded  new 
guarantees  for  slavery.  Defeated  at  the  polls  by  the  elec 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  in  their  struggle  over  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  the  Dred-Scott  Decision,  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  and  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  slave  State ;  defeated 
in  Congress  by  the  rejection  of  President  Buchanan's  pro- 
slavery  policy,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  having 
become  Republican,  though  the  Senate,  whose  members 
were  elected  for  a  longer  term  of  office,  was  still  disposed 
to  acquiesce  in  that  policy  ;^— the  following  seven  States  had 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  81 

withdrawn  from  the  Union,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ala 
bama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Florida  and  Texas.  The 
remaining  seven  slave  States  were  represented  in  the  con 
vention  : — Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri.  These,  instead  of 
accepting  peaceably  the  results  of  a  fair  election  and  the 
change  in  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country  upon  the 
slavery  issues,  still  demanded  new  concessions  to  slavery. 
And  it  is  sad  to  think  that  so  many  of  the  free  States  in. 
that  convention,  and  some  of  the  largest  and  most  influen 
tial  of  them,  should  have  been  misled  by  their  desire  for 
peace  to  accede  to  such  unreasonable  demands,  when  the 
^States  making  such  demands  would  neither  promise  if  they 
were  granted  not  to  secede  themselves,  nor  to  support  the 
government  in  maintaining  the  Union,  or  in  collecting  its 
revenue  and  holding  its  forts  and  navy  yards.  The  issue 
was  distinctly  made  that  without  such  pledges,  and  new 
protection  and  encouragement  given  to  the  institution  of 
slavery,  such  as  was  not  found  in  the  Constitution  or  in  any 
of  the  ordinances  and  solemn  compacts  made  originally 
between  the  slave  and  the  free  States,  there  must  be  a  per 
manent  breaking  up  of  the  Union,  and  if  any  resistance 
was  made  to  this  there  certainly  would  be  civil  war.  Such 
was  the  attitude  in  which  the  free  States  and  the  slave 
States  delegates  found  themselves  towards  each  other. 

The  mode  in  which  these  guarantees  were  to  be  given,  as 
proposed  by  Virginia  and  not  essentially  changed  by  the 
convention,  was  in  the  form  of  an  additional  amendment 
to  the  Constitution,  composed  of  seven  sections.  The  first 
section  restores  the  "  Missouri  Compromise,"  which  had 
been  repealed;  or  again  prohibits  slavery  north  of  36°  30' 
and  allows  it  south  of  that  parallel.  This  would  seem  a 
generous  concession  to  the  North  were  it  not  that  all  the 
territory  south  of  that  line  had  been  already  organized  into 
slave  States,  and  the  Southern  delegates  refused  to  make  it 


82  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

applicable  to  any  future  territory,  when  they  had  just  been 
urging  the  purchase  of  Cuba,  the  setting  up  of  a  protect 
orate  in  Mexico  and  holding  territory  there  to  satisfy  what 
ever  claims  we  might  make  upon  that  government,  and 
when,  too,  the  South  was  already  dreaming  of  eventually 
annexing  all  South  America. 

The  fifth  section  forever  prohibits  the  "  foreign  slave 
trade,"  the  disinterestedness  of  which  might  well  be  ques 
tioned,  since  this  trade  would  come  into  competition  with 
the  domestic  slave  trade,  of  which  Virginia  held  the 
monopoly.* 

The  fourth  and  seventh  sections  provide  for  the  arrest 
and  delivery  of  "  fugitive  slaves,"  or  for  payment  from  the 
national  treasury  for  all  such  whose  recapture  is  prevented 
by  violence.  At  the  same  time  the  Southern  delegates 
refused  to  have  slaves  thus  paid  for  emancipated.  And 
they  also  refused  to  let  the  government  compensate  citizens 
of  the  free  States  for  what  they  should  suffer  in  person  or 
property  by  violence  or  intimidation  in  the  slave  States. 

The  third  section  takes  away  from  Congress  all  power  to 
abolish  or  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
except  upon  almost  impossible  conditions ;  or  to  abolish  or 
interfere  with  slavery  where  the  general  government  has 
exclusive  control,  as  in  its  forts  and  navy  yards;  or  to  pre 
vent  the  bringing,  keeping,  and  taking  away  of  slaves  from 
the  District  of  Columbia,  though  it  does  forbid  slave  depots 
and  the  slave  trade  being  carried  on  there.  As  if  the  gen- 


*  Afterwards,  when  the  Confederate  government  was  organized,  this  was  used  as 
an  inducement  and  a  threat  to  bring  Virginia  into  the  Confederacy.  She  was  to  have 
the  chief  benefit  of  such  trade,  and  be  deprived  of  it  altogether  if  she  refused. 
These  two  articles  were  put  into  the  Constitution  :  "  The  importation  of  African 
negroes  from  any  foreign  country  other  than  the  slaveholding  States  is  hereby  for 
bidden,  and  Congress  is  required  to  pass  such  laws  as  shall  effectually  prevent  the 
same;  "also,  "Congress  shall  have  power  to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  slaves 
from  any  State  not  a  member  of  this  Confederacy."  This,  and  the  removal  of  the 
Confederate  capital  from  Montgomery,  Ala.,  to  Richmond,  evidently  had  their 
influence. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  83 

eral  government  might  not  properly  legislate  in  favor  of 
freedom,  where  it  has  supreme  control,  just  as  the  States 
may  within  their  own  territory,  whenever  the  welfare  or 
the  moral  sentiment  of  the  nation  shall  demand  it ! 

The  second  section  provides  that  no  further  acquisition 
of  territory  shall  be  made  without  the  consent  of  a  majority 
of  all  the  senators  from  the  slaveholding  States  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  senators  from  the  free  States,  when  the 
acquisition  of  the  Louisiana(  territory,  Florida,  and  Texas 
-had  been  effected  without  any  such  majority. 

The  sixth  section,  the  most  important  of  these  changes 
in  the  Constitution,  requires  that  this  provision  "  shall  not 
be  amended  or  abolished  without  the  consent  of  all  the 
States,"  a  provision  not  required  for  the  adoption  of  the 
original  Constitution,  nor  demanded  at  any  time  for  the 
preservation  of  freedom,  but  now  for  the  first  time  insisted 
upon  to  fasten  slavery  irremovably  upon  our  republic,  where 
from  the  beginning  it  had  been  hoped  and  expected  that 
the  time  would  come  when  the  slave  States  would  be  glad 
to  rid  themselves  of  the  system,  and,  if  a  majority  should 
desire  it,  this  would  remove  it  forever. 

But  the  most  astonishing  and  seemingly  adroit  proposi 
tion  of  Virginia  was  to  change  by  a  constitutional  provision 
the  very  nature  of  the  common  law — the  protection  of 
freedom,  and  under  which  some  of  our  Northern  States 
had  freed  their  slaves — and  make  it  the  defence  of  slavery, 
which  no  future  legislation  could  change.  Judge  McCurdy 
of  the  Connecticut  delegation,  a  former  Chief  Justice  of 
that  State,  put  this  matter  in  a  strong  light,  as  follows  :— 

I  believe  under  this  article  the  institution  of  slavery  is  to  be  pro 
tected  by  a  most  ingenious  contrivance — the  common  law,  adminis 
tered  according  to  the  pro-slavery  view,  is  to  be  called  in  for  its 
protection.  The  common  law,  as  we  understand  it,  is  the  law  of 
freedom,  not  of  slavery.  By  the  common  law  a  slave  is  a  man  still, 
a  person,  and  not  a  personal  chattel.  He  may  owe  service,  as  a  child 
to  a  parent,  an  apprentice  to  his  master,  but  he  Is  still  a  person  owing 


84  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

service.  He  is  all  the  time  recognized  as  a  man.  As  such  he  may 
own  and  hold  property,  take  it  by  inheritance  and  dispose  of  it  at 
pleasure,  by  will  or  by  contract.  All  these  rights,  all  the  principles 
upon  which  they  are  founded,  are  in  direct  antagonism  to  slavery. 
By  the  slave  law  all  this  is  reversed.  The  master  owns  the  body  of 
the  slave,  may  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  him,  or  make  him  the  sub 
ject  of  inheritance.  The  slave  loses  all  the  attributes  of  a  person  as 
much  as  the  horse  or  the  ox  that  feeds  at  his  master's  crib.  These, 
in  a  condition  of  slavery,  are  the  rights  of  the  master  over  the  slave. 
These  rights  the  common  law,  under  this  proposition,  is  to  recognize, 
protect  and  enforce.  I  believe  I  am  not  mistaken  in  this.  What 
other  construction  can  you  give  the  article  ?  It  is  a  distinct  proposal 
to  engraft  slavery  upon  the  common  law;  to  declare  in  the  Constitu- 
t  on  that  slavery  is  recognized  and  protected  by  the  common  law. 
Now  the  North  has  always  protested  against  this.  She  will  not  con 
sent  to  it.  For  then  slavery  goes  wherever  the  common  law  goes.  It 
makes  slavery  national ;  freedom  sectional.  This  new  kind  of  common 
law  is  to  be  substituted  for  the  old.  The  latter  has  been  understood 
for  centuries  almost;  its  principles  have  been  discussed  and  settled. 
It  is  a  system  founded  by  experience  and  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the 
people  subject  to  it.  Its  very  name  implies  that  it  was  not  created 
by  legislative  authority.  A  strange  common  law  that  would  be  which 
is  created  by  the  Constitution. — [Proceedings  of  the  Peace  Conven 
tion,  p.  159. 

The  "  common  law,"  as  generally  understood,  means  the 
natural  principles  of  justice  upon  which  laws  should  be 
made  and  administered.  They  may  violate  these  principles, 
as  slavery  does,  and  may  make  that  system  legal,  but  not 
according  to  natural  justice  and  common  law.  As  used  in 
our  courts  of  justice,  it  refers  to  those  unwritten  principles 
of  English  law  which  we  have  adopted  in  this  country,  as  a 
part  of  our  system  of  jurisprudence.  According  to  this 
common  law,  therefore,  slavery  is  an  unnatural  and  unjusti 
fiable  condition,  which  can  only  be  made  legal  by  positive 
statute,  and  where  there  is  no  such  statute,  as  in  our  free 
States  and  in  Great  Britain,  slaves  became  free,  of  course. 
On  this  point,  Lord  Mansfield's  famous  decision  in  the 
Somerset  case  in  England,  and  the  decisions  of  the  English 
courts,  that  it  was  not  a  crime  for  a  slave  when  captured 
to  kill  his  master,  were  always  quoted  in  our  courts  as  of 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  85 

highest  authority.  And  upon  this  principle  and  with  such 
authority,  the  last  of  the  slaves  in  some  of  our  Northern 
States  had  been  set  free,  without  any  legislation  upon  the 
subject.  So  that  the  common  law  has  come  to  be  under 
stood  as  the  law  of  freedom,  and  now  it  was  to  be  made  to 
justify  and  enforce  slavery.  Here  is  where  Judge  McCurdy, 
w^io  was  the  Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut,  and  whose  au 
thority  on  such  subjects  entitled  his  opinions  to  respect,  did 
good  service  in  calling  attention  to  this  subject,  and  suc 
ceeded,  though  only  by  the  vote  of  a  single  State  in  the 
convention,  in  having  this  proposition  defeated.  Judge 
McCurdy  also  detected,  as  he  thought,  another  provision  in 
those  Virginia  articles,  by  which  the  African  slave  trade 
might  have  been  carried  on  from  the  port  of  New  York. 
And  by  an  amendment,  which  was  adopted  by  a  majority 
of  only  a  single  State,  such  a  possibility  was  defeated.  "  I 
wish,"  he  said,  "  to  prohibit  any  transactions  concerning 
the  purchase  or  sale  of  slaves,  either  within  the  free  States, 
or  the  navigable  waters  connected  therewith,  or  under  free 
State  jurisdiction.  If  there  were  no  such  prohibition,  a 
cargo  of  slaves  might  be  brought  from  the  coast  of  Africa 
into  the  port  of  New  York,  and  transferred  there  to  parties 
residing  in  the  slave  States.  The  free  States  have  a  right 
to  direct  what  shall,  and  what  shall  not,  be  a  subject  of 
commerce  within  their  limits.  I  presume  it  is  not  intended 
that  the  Constitution  shall  prohibit  the  exercise  of  this 
right.  I  desire  not  to  leave  this  open  to  construction,  but 
to  make  the  section  declare  that  no  such  intention  exists." 
Such  were  the  concessions  required  of  the  North  and 
these  the  ''guarantees"  demanded  for  slavery,  and  the 
demand  backed  up  by  menace.  Mr.  Morrill  of  Maine  put 
the  matter  in  this  form  to  Mr.  Seddon,  the  leading  member 
of  the  Virginia  delegation  :  "  I  wish  to  ask  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  a  plain. question,  and  I  wish  to  receive  a 
frank  answer.  If  this  conference  agrees  to  the  amend- 


86 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


merits  proposed  by  the  majority  of  the  committee,  will  Vir 
ginia  sustain  the  government  and  maintain  its  integrity 
while  the  people  are  considering  and  acting  on  the  new 
proposals  of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  ? "  To  this  he 
answered  :  «  I  can  let  Virginia  speak  for  herself.  She  has 
spoken  for  herself  in  most  emphatic  language.  She  has 
told  you  what  will  satisfy  her,  in  the  resolutions  under 
which  this  body  is  convened.  I  have  no  right  whatever  to 
suppose  that  she  will  accept  less.  She  is  solemnly  pledged 
to  resist  coercion."  He  had  previously  said,  u  Virginia  will 
not  permit  coercion."  Mr.  Morrill  replied :  "  I  thought  I 
did  not  misunderstand  the  position  of  Virginia.  She  is 
armed  to  the  teeth,  and  she  now  proposes  to  step  between 
the  government  and  the  States.  I  understand  her  attitude. 
It  is  an  attitude  of  menace.  It  gives  aid  and  comfort  to 
those  who  trample  upon  the  laws  and  defy  the  authority  of 
this  government." 

And  the  venerable  and  recognized  scholar  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  Government,  David  Dudley  Field  of  New  York, 
who  codified  the  civil  and  criminal  laws  of  that  State,  and 
whose  improved  systpm  has  been  adopted  by  so  many  other- 
States,  said :  "  I  would  sacrifice  all  I  have,  lay  down  my 
life  for  the  Union,  but  I  will  not  give  these  guarantees  to 
slavery.  If  the  Union  cannot  be  preserved  without  them, 
it  cannot  long  be  preserved  with  them.  Let  me  ask  you  if 
you  will  recommend  to  the  people  of  the  Southern  States, 
in  case  these  guarantees  are  conceded,  to  accept  them  and 
abide  by  their  obligations  to  the  Union.  You  answer, 
'Yes/  Do  you  suppose  you  can  induce  the  seceded  States 
to  return  ?  You  answer,  <  We  do  not  know ! '  What 
will  you  yourselves  do  if,  after  all,  they  refuse?  Your 
answer  is,  '  We  will  go  with  them.'  We  are  to  understand, 
then,  that  this  is  the  language  of  the  slave  States,  which 
have  not  seceded,  toward  the  free  States  :  '  If  you  will 
support  our  amendments,  we  will  try  to  induce  the  seceded 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  87 

States  to  return  to  the  Union.  We  rather  think  we  can 
induce  them  to  return ;  but  if  we  cannot,  then  we  will  go 
with  them.'  What  is  to  be  done  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States  while  you  are  trying  this  experiment  ?  The 
secedejj  States  are  organizing  a  government  with  all  its 
departments.  They  are  levying  taxes,  raising  military 
forces,  and  engaging  in  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  in 
plain  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  If 
this  condition  of  affairs  lasts  six  months  longer,  France 
and  England  will  recognize  theirs  as  a  government  de  facto. 
Do  you  suppose  that  we  will  submit  to  this ;  that  we  can 
submit  to  it  ?  I  speak  only  for  myself.  I  undertake  to 
commit  no  one  but  myself  ;  but  here  I  assert  that  an  admin 
istration  which  fails  to  assert  by  force  its  authority  over 
the  whole  country  will  be  a  disgrace  to  the  nation.  There 
is  no  middle  ground  ;  we  must  keep  the  country  unbroken, 
or  we  give  it  up  to  ruin  !  We  are  told  that  one  State  has 
an  hundred  thousand  men  ready  for  the  field,  and  that  if 
we  do  not  assent  to  these  propositions  she  will  fight  us.  If 
I  believed  this  to  be  true,  I  would  not  consent  to  treat  on 
any  terms." 

It  should  be  said  in  this  connection  that,  considering  the 
irritated  and  critical  condition  of  the  country,  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  convention  were  characterized  by  remarkable 
self-control  and  courtesy  on  both  sides.  The  proceedings 
of  the  convention  were  private,  but  the  publication  of  them 
was  authorized  at  the  close,  so  that  no  one  need  misunder 
stand  what  was  the  object  of  that  convention  and  of  Virginia, 
who  originated  it.  She  laid  down  the  conditions  upon 
which  alone  secession  could  be  prevented,  to  which  she 
would  never  pledge  herself  to  abide,  and  which  were 
that  slavery  was  to  be  protected  everywhere  and  in  every 
way ;  to  have  all  the  rights  in  the  free  States  that  it  had  in 
the  slave  States  ;  to  change  the  Constitution  so  as  to  have 
it  recognized  there,  whence  it  had  been  so  carefully  excluded  ; 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

that  Virginia  should  have  the  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade, 
and  even  he  at  liberty  to  carry  it  on  through  Northern 
ports;  and  that  it  should  he  rendered  virtually  impossible 
to  make  any  changes  in  favor  of  freedom,  so  long  as  a 
single  State  should  object.  Such  were  the  propositions 
which  the  South  made  in  the  interests  of  peace  and  to  pre 
vent  secession  and  civil  war,  and  even  then  she  would  not 
engage  to  abide  by  them,  if  the  North  would.  That  decided 
the  position  of  the  North,  as  well  it  might.  Henceforth 
there  could  he  no  further  compromises  and  guarantees  to 
slavery.  And  though  the  interests  of  trade  and  of  politics 
led  many  to  expect  relief  from  this  quarter  even  to  the  last, 
the  abandonment  of  such  hope,  and  the  determination  to 
maintain  the  Union  and  support  our  republic,  led  us  to  put 
down  secession  and  crush  out  slavery  with  it,  to  the  general 
satisfaction  of  the  whole  country. 

Ex-Governor  Baldwin  of  Connecticut,  who  was  the  repre 
sentative  of  this  State  on  the  committee  to  whom  the  reso 
lutions  of  Virginia  and  her  proposed  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  were  referred,  made  a  minority  report  recom 
mending  a  general  convention,  as  proposed  by  Kentucky, 
He  argued  that  the  Constitution  provided  only  two  modes 
for  its  own  amendment — one  by  Congress,  whenever  two- 
thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  such  amendment  neces 
sary,  and  the  other,  hy  the  same  body,  upon  the  application 
of  two-thirds  of  the  States  calling  a  convention  to  propose 
amendments — neither  of  which  conditions  were  complied 
with  in  this  convention.  All  the  States  were  not  repre 
sented,  not  even  all  who  might  wish  to  he  represented. 
Then  the  delegates  did  not  equally  represent  their  States, 
for  while  some  of  them  were  chosen  by  their  Legislatures, 
others  were  only  the  appointments  of  their  governors. 
There  was  also  too  little  time  for  the  transaction  of  such 
important  business.  Congress  must  adjourn  in.  fifteen  or 
sixteen  days,  and  the  convention  must  have  time  to  Consider 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  89 

and  agree  upon  the  amendments  to  be  proposed  to  Con 
gress,  and  there  must  be  time  for  them  to  consider  and 
agree  upon  them  also  before  adjournment.  Besides,  this 
organization  of  a  government,  or  the  reorganization  of  one, 
is  such  a  delicate  and  responsible  work  that  it  was  intended 
it  should  not  be  done  rashly,  and  so  the  Constitution  had 
prescribed  only  these  two  slow  and  complicated  modes  of 
doing  it.  And  here  he  referred  to  Washington's  farewell 
address,  in  which  he  warns  the  nation  against  any  rash  and 
unauthorized  change  of  the  Constitution,  saying:  "If  in 
the  opinion  of  the  people  the  distribution  or  modification 
of  the  constitutional  powers  be  in  any  particular  wrong,  let 
it  be  corrected  in  the  way  which  the  Constitution  designates. 
But  let  there  be  no  change  by  usurpation,  for  though  this  in 
one  instance  may  be  instrumental  of  good,  it  is  the  custom 
ary  weapon  by  which  free  governments  are  destroyed.  The 
precedent  must  always  greatly  overbalance  in  permanent 
evil  any  partial  or  transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at 
any  time  yield."  After  referring  also  to  the  preamble  of 
the  Constitution,  as  showing  that  the  first  great  purpose  of 
that  instrument  was  "  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,"  he 
quoted  with  peculiar  significancy  at  that  juncture,  that 
other  declaration  of  Washington's :  "  All  obstructions  to 
the  execution  of  the  laws,  all  combinations  and  associa 
tions,  under  whatever  plausible  character,  with  the  real 
design  to  direct,  control,  counteract  or  awe  the  regular 
deliberation  and  action  of  the  constituted  authorities,  are 
destructive  to  this  fundamental  rule,  and  of  fatal  tendency." 
This  counsel  of  that  "illustrious  American,  I  will  not  say 
Virginian,  for  Washington  belonged  to  his  whole  country," 
he  commended  as  worthy  to  be  cherished  in  the  heart  of 
every  patriot.  Governor  Baldwin's  character,  ability  and 
broad  treatment  of  the  subject  commanded  the  high  respect 
of  the  convention,  though  it  could  hardly  have  been  expected 
to  control  so  many  bent  on  securing  greater  privileges  for 


90  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

slavery,  and  so  many  others  anxious  to  maintain  the  ascend 
ency  of  their  party  by  concessions  to  the  South.  Still  he 
was  sustained  in  his  position  by  all  the  Connecticut  delega 
tion  save  one,  and  by  the  approval  of  Governor  Bucking 
ham,  as  his  report  to  the  governor  and  the  governor's  reply 
show  : — 

NEW  HAVEN,  March  4,  1861. 

SIR: — In  behalf  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  your  Excellency 
to  attend  the  Conference  Convention  at  Washington  on  the  invitation  of 
the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  I  have  to  report,  that  the  convention, 
having  assembled  on  the  4th  of  February  continued  its  sessions  until 
the  27th  of  that  month,  when  after  the  adoption  of  certain  resolutions 
proposing  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  a  majority  of  the  States  represented  concurred,  it  adjourned 
without  day. 

The  intercourse  of  its  members  during  the  entire  session  of  the 
convention,  was  characterized  by  a  pervading  spirit  of  courtesy  and 
conciliation,  as  well  as  of  loyalty  to  the  Union.  It  soon  became  apparent, 
however,  that  the  Commissioners  from  some  of  the  border  States,  in 
their  anxiety  to  bring  back  to  their  allegiance  that  portion  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  who  are  now  in  rebellion  against  the 
government,  and  to  prevent  the  further  contagion  of  their  example, 
would  expect  from  us  concessions  inconsistent  alike  with  the  opinions 
expressed  by  your  Excellency,  the  resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  which  all  political  parties  have  concurred,  and  our  own  sense  of 
duty. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  in  view  as  well  of  the  fact  that  only 
a  portion  of  the  States  were  represented  in  the  convention,  as  of  the 
grave  doubts  that  existed  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  any  other  course, 
the  Connecticut  Commissioners,  with  but  one  exception,  were  desirous 
that  the  convention  should  avail  itself  of  the  movement  already  indi 
cated  by  Kentucky,  and  recommended  to  the  States  to  apply  to  Con 
gress  to  call  a  general  convention  in  accordance  with  5th  article  of 
the  Constitution. 

A  resolution  for  that  purpose  was  offered  as  a  substitute  for  specific 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  which  had  been  prepared  and 
reported  to  the  convention  by  a  majority  of  the  committee,  to  whose 
consideration  the  different  plans  of  adjustment  had  been  submitted ;  — 
after  a  long  discussion  the  substitute  reported  by  the  undersigned, 
(of  which  with  the  accompanying  remarks  in  its  support  a  printed 
copy  was  yesterday  transmitted  to  your  Excellency)  was  lost  by  a  vote 
of  eight  States  in  its  favor  to  eleven  States  against  its  acceptance. 

As  the   amendments  recommended  by  the  convention  have  been 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  91 

made  public  by  Jiieir  presentation  to  Congress,  it  is  unnecessary  that 
I  should  more  particularly  refer  to  them  in  this  communication. 

The  journal  of  the  convention  has  not  yet  been  completed,  though 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  superintend  its  publication.  I  shall 
transmit  to  your  Excellency  a  copy  when  received,  which  will  more 
particularly  indicate  the  course  of  proceedings  and  the  action  of  the 
Connecticut  Commissioners  in  the  various  propositions  submitted  to 
the  consideration  of  the  convention. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  with  great  consideration  and  respect, 
your  Excellency's  obedient  servant, 

ROGER  S.  BALDWIN. 

His  Excellency  William  A.  Buckingham,  Norwich. 

To  the  above  the  following  reply  was  returned  :— 

\  STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 
{  NORWICH,  March  8,  1861. 

SIR: — Your  favor  of  the  4th  inst.  was  duly  received,  by  which  you 
report  the  action  of  the  Connecticut  Commissioners  on  measures 
presented  to  their  consideration  before  the  Conference  Convention 
recently  held  in  Washington  on  the  invitation  of  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia. 

In  reply  I  would  assure  the  commissioners  that  the  course  pursued 
by  them  to  harmonize  conflicting  interests  and  adjust  those  questions 
which  are  alienating  the  people  from  each  other,  and  from  the  general 
government,  upon  a  just  and  permanent  basis,  and  especially  their 
efforts  to  secure  the  call  of  a  general  convention  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  amendments  to  that  instrument,  meets  the  cordial  approval 
of  this  department. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  with  high  consideration, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
Govt  Roger  S.  Baldwin,  Chairman  of  Connecticut  Commissioners. 

It  only  remains  to  be  stated  that  the  measures  proposed 
by  this  peace  convention  when  presented  to  the  United 
States  Senate  found  little  favor  there.  Indeed,  the  severest 
criticism  they  received  was  from  the  Virginia  senators, 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Hunter,  and  upon  the  point  most  objected 
to  by  Judge  McCurdy  and  the  Connecticut  delegation. 
They  feared  to  attempt  to  put  slavery  under  the  protection 
of  the  "  common  law,"  and  frankly  admitted  that  it  would 
make  their  position  a  worse  one  than  under  the  Dred-Scott 
Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  These  propositions,  we 


92  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

believe,  never  reached  the  House  of  Representatives,  which 
were  still  less  likely  to  consider  them  favorably,  or  if  they 
did,  they  were  left  to  sleep  there  forever  by  the  new  admin 
istration,  and  amid  the  anxieties  of  actual  war,  which 
neither  these  nor  any  other  possible  adjustment  at  that 
time  could  have  prevented.  All  those  peace  measures  at 
the  time  were  simply  mischievous.  They  only  made  the 
North  put  off  preparations  for  a  struggle  that  must  come 
if  the  government  was  not  to  be  overthrown.  And  they 
misled  the  South,  and  made  her  believe  that  the  North, 
rather  than  lose  her  trade,  and  that  the  party  in  power, 
rather  than  lose  her  political  support,  would  consent  to  any 
concessions  and  compromises,  even  the  unlimited  extension 
of  slavery.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  General  Lee 
would  ever  have  invaded  Pennsylvania  and  fought  the  deci 
sive  battle  of  the  war  there,  leaving  the  bulk  of  the  Union 
army  in  his  rear,  had  he  not  supposed  that  the  South  had 
too  many  political  friends  and  business  friends  at  the  North 
to  allow  such  a  war  to  be  carried  on  any  longer.  It  was 
unfortunate  for  our  cause  that  from  the  first,  and  so  far 
into  the  war,  so  much  of  the  commercial  spirit,  and  of 
party  spirit  in  politics,  had  been  manifested  at  the  North. 
All  such  considerations  were  early  lost  sight  of  at  the 
South.  It  was  certainly  to  be  regretted  that  in  the  peace 
convention  the  two  great  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  were  so  divided  in  their  delegations,  and  these  States 
so  often  carried  for  the  extreme  demands  of  the  South, 
though  they  were  soon  staunch  enough  and  patriotic  enough 
in  support  of  the  government.  It  is  certainly  to  the  credit 
of  Connecticut  that  from  the  first  she  discerned  the  true 
issue,  and  that  her  delegation,  her  Legislature,  and  her 
governor  were  one  in  their  determination  to  meet  the  crisis 
whatever  it  might  be. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
MR.  LINCOLN  INAUGURATED. 

His  Speeches  on  the  Journey  to  Washington,  and  the  Light  they 
Throw  on  His  Character— The  Plot  to  Kill  Him  on  the  Way — The 
Inauguration — Mr.  Buchanan's  Character. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  President  Buchanan's 
administration  was  ending,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  about  to 
be  inaugurated.  Although  there  was  so  much  disloyalty  at 
the  national  capital,  and  such  vindictive  feeling  in  the 
border  slave  States — though  none  of  them  as  yet  had 
seceded — it  was  hardly  to  be  believed  that  any  forcible 
resistance  would  be  made  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration. 
To  be  sure  it  has  been  discovered  since,  that  when  Mr. 
Fremont  was  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  a  plot  was 
laid,  had  he  been  elected,  to  have  Arirginia  seize  the  arms 
at  Harper's  Ferry  and  take  possession  of  Washington,  and 
prevent  his  ever  entering  upon  that  office.  Still,  as  the  time 
approached,  rumors  thickened,  and  trustworthy  information 
showed  that  such  an  attempt  would  be  made  now.  Marshal 
Kennedy  of  New  York,  though  born  in  a  slave. State,  was  a 
true  man,  who,  before  the  war  broke  out,  had  his  suspicions 
aroused  by  the  purchase  of  so  many  arms  for  the  South 
that  he  finally  seized  them  and  refused  to  give  them  up  in 
spite  of  threats.  He  sent  two  sets  of  detectives  to  Balti 
more,  and  finally  went  there  himself,  where  he  was  at  home 
and  well  acquainted  with  Marshal  Kane,  who  frankly  told 
him  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  pass  through 
the  city,  and  how  it  was  to  be  prevented.  Only  twelve 
men  were  to  be  put  on  guard  for  his  protection  there,  when  he 
should  pass  through  the  city,  while  1,400  were  to  be  detailed 


94  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

for  that  duty  in  New  York.  Mr.  Feltori,  president  of  one 
of  the  railroads  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  was  also  so 
impressed  by  the  danger,  that  he  employed  Pinkerton  and 
his  detectives  to  find  out  the  truth  of  the  matter,  which  was 
reported  to  be  this  :  That  there  were  military  organizations 
drilling  along  the  road,  pretending  to  be  Union  men,  and 
offering  their  services  to  guard  the  road,  but  purposing  to 
"burn  the  bridges,  break  up  the  road,  and  murder  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  his  way  to  Washington,  if  it  turned  out  that  he 
went  there  before  troops  were  called  out ;  but  if  the  troops 
were  first  called  out,  then  the  bridges  were  to  be  destroyed, 
and  Washington  cut  off  and  taken  possession  of  by  the 
South."  General  Scott  also  shared  in  these  anxieties,  so 
that  he  gathered  in  Washington,  for  the  occasion,  the  few 
companies  of  United  States  troops  at  his  command,  and 
called  out  the  volunteer  companies  of  cavalry  and  riflemen 
of  the  district ;  the  former  to  guard  Mr.  Lincoln's  carriage, 
and  the  latter  to  be  posted  where  they  could  watch  the 
windows  from  which  he  might  be  fired  upon  as  he  passed ; 
and  when  the  time  came  he  put  himself  personally  in  com 
mand,  so  that  when  asked  why  he  "  was  not  on  the  east 
portico  to  grace  the  ceremonial,"  replied  that  he  "  was 
where  he  belonged  at  such  a  time  of  danger."  All  this  has 
been  fully  and  carefully  confirmed,  as  well  as  graphically 
narrated  in  its  particulars  in  the  late  "  History  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  "  by  Messrs.  Nicolay  and  Hay.  The  existence  of 
such  plots  was  proved  at  the  time,  so  far  as  it  could  be 
proved  by  circumstantial  evidence,  while  they  were  soon 
confirmed  by  the  burning  of  the  bridges  and  tearing  up  of 
the  railroads  at  Baltimore,  and  all  proved  too  true  in  the 
subsequent  barbarities  of  the  war  and  the  final  assassination 
of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

The  manner  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  reached  Washington, 
is  an  oft-told  and  thrilling  story,  but  it  sheds  such  light  on 
the  state  of  the  times,  and  upon  the  character  of  this  new 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  95 

and  comparatively  unknown  man,  to  whom  such  great 
interests  were  to  be  entrusted  at  such  a  critical  time,  that 
it  must  be  referred  to.  Mr.  Lincoln,  his  family  and  suit, 
left  his  home  in  Springfield,  111.,  for  Washington,  the  llth 
of  February,  to  be  a  fortnight  on  their  journey,  and  arrive 
there  some  ten  days  before  the  inauguration.  He  had 
received  many  invitations  from  governors  and  State  legisla 
tures,  mayors  and  city  governments,  committees  of  towns 
and  associations,  tendering  receptions  without  party  dis 
tinction,  and  while  obliged  to  decline  many  of  them,  like 
that  from  Massachusetts,  for  lack  of  time,  he  did  visit  the 
capitals  of  Indiana,  Ohio,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  besides  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Pittsburg, 
Buffalo,  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  At  the  capitals  he 
was  received  by  the  legislatures,  and  replied  to  their 
addresses.  In  the  large  cities,  like  New  York,  the  com 
mercial  capital  of  the  country,  and  Philadelphia  with  its 
Independence  hall,  he  was  impressed  by  the  great  interests 
about  to  be  committed  to  his  charge,  and  stirred  by  motives 
that  had  inspired  others  to  great  achievements  who  were  as 
human  as  himself.  In  his  addresses  he  had  a  hard  task 
before  him,  especially  for  one  who  was  characterized  by 
frankness,  and  trained  to  logical  argument  rather  than  to 
felicitous  and  complimentary  speech.  He  must  address 
those  who  were  politically  opposed  to  him  and  had  voted 
against  him,  as  well  as  those  of  his  own  party.  On  the 
borders  of  a  slave  State,  as  at  Cincinnati,  he  must  speak  to 
those  who  were  born  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  and  had  sym 
pathy  with  those  who  upheld  it,  while  they  bitterly  hated 
such  as  were  trying  to  extend  the  system.  And  then, 
under  the  circumstances,  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  announce 
fully  what  his  own  policy  and  that  of  his  administration  was 
to  be,  which  all  the  country  was  chiefly  anxious  to  find 
out.  He  must  listen  till  the  last  moment  to  every  sugges 
tion  and  criticism  of  both  friends  and  foes,  and  then  in  his 


96  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

inaugural  announce  to  an  anxious  world  the  principles 
and  policy  to  which  he  and  his  administration  were  to  be 
pledged.  Sometimes  he  expressed  little  more  than  thanks 
for  the  courtesies  shown  him,  and  shown  not  to  him  per 
sonally,  but  as  chosen  to  represent  and  carry  out  the  will 
of  the  people  in  the  administration  of  the  government. 
Sometimes,  as  at  Indianapolis,  he  did  little  else  than  ques 
tion  his  audience  as  to  the  meaning  of  "coercion"  and 
"invasion,"  and  when  they  might  be  justifiable,  and  closed 
saying:  "Fellow  citizens,  I  am  not  asserting  anything,  I 
am  merely  asking  questions  for  you  to  consider."  At 
another  time,  in  Cincinnati,  he  expressed  his  kind  feelings 
towards  the  people  of  Kentucky,  who  must  have  been  well 
represented,  both  as  citizens  and  as  visitors,  and  hoped  that 
"for  centuries  to  come  there  might  be  seen,  once  every  four 
years,  what  they  saw, the  people,  without  distinction  of  party, 
giving  such  a  reception  to  the  constitutionally  elected  Presi 
dent  of  the  whole  United  States."  He  told  them,  in  answer 
to  the  question  which  they  would  be  asking :  "  How  they 
were  to  be  treated,"  "We  mean  to  treat  you  as  near  as  we 
possibly  can,  as  Washington,  and  Jefferson,  and  Madison 
treated  you.  We  mean  to  recognize  and  bear  -in  mind 
always  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other 
people,  and  as  good  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you 
accordingly."  And  then  touched  with  the  remembrance 
that  this  was  his  native  State,  he  closes  with  this  appeal  to 
them  :  "  Fellow  citizens  of  Kentucky,  friends,  brethren : 
May  I  call  you  such?  In  my  new  position  I  see  no  occasion 
and  feel  no  inclination  to  retract  a  word  of  this.  If  it  shall 
not  be  made  good,  be  assured  that  the  fault  shall  not  be 
mine."  At  the  capital  of  New  Jersey,  in  addressing  the 
Legislature,  he  said  :  "  I  learn  that  this  body  is  composed 
of  a  majority  of  gentlemen  who,  in  the  exercise  of  their  best 
judgment  in  the  choice  of  a  chief  magistrate,  did  not  think 
that  I  was  the  man.  I  understand,  nevertheless,  that  they 


VVK.LIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  97 

came  forward  to  greet  me  as  the  constitutionally  elected 
President  of  the  United  States ;  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  to  meet  the  man  who  for  the  time  being  is  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  majority  of  the  nation ;  united  by  the  single 
purpose  to  perpetuate  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  As  such  I  accept  this  reception 
more  gratefully  than  I  could  do  did  I  believe  it  were  ten 
dered  to  me  as  an  individual."  And  here  he  added  :  "  I 
shall  do  all  that  may  be  in  my  power  to  promote  a  peaceful 
settlement  of  all  our  difficulties.  The  man  does  not  live 
who  is  more  devoted  to  peace  than  I  am,  none  who  would 
do  more  to  preserve  it;  but  it  may  be  necessary  to  put  the 
foot  down  firmly.  [Here  the  audience  broke  into  cheers  so 
loud  and  long,  that  for  some  moments  it  was  impossible  to 
hear  Mr.  Lincoln's  voice.]  And  if  I  do  my  duty  and  do 
right,  you  will  sustain  me,  will  you  not?"  In  his  last 
speech  in  Independence  hall,  Philadelphia,  after  expressing 
the  emotions  excited  by  "the  wisdom,  patriotism,  and 
devotion  to  principle"  once  gathered  there,  and  "the  senti 
ments  embodied  in  that  Declaration  of  Independence  which 
gave  liberty,  not  alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but 
hope  to  all  the  world,  for  all  future  time,"  he  gave  utter 
ance  to  a  thought  and  a  sentiment  which  the  audience  could 
not  understand  at  the  time,  but  which  received  its  fearful 
meaning  to  all  of  us  afterwards,  when  it  became  known 
what  communications  he  had  received  the  night  before.  It 
was  there,  and  in  that  connection,  speaking  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  as  giving  equal  rights  to  all,  that  he 
said  :  "  If  this  country  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up 
that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would  rather  be  assas 
sinated  on  the  spot  than  surrender  it." 

The  day  before,  Mr.  Felton,  the  railroad  president,  at 
Baltimore,  Mr.  Pinkerton,  the  head  of  the  detectives 
employed  there,  and  Mr.  Judd  of  Chicago,  one  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  personal  and  political  friends,  had  all  arrived  in  Phila- 


98 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


delphia  to  consult  with  him  as  to  his  danger.  What  had 
been  rumors  before,  had  now  been  confirmed  by  enough 
circumstantial  evidence  to  put  him  and  his  friends  on  their 
guard.  The  plot  was  to  burn  the  bridges,  destroy  the 
railroad,  and  murder  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  evening,  and  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  night,  had  been  spent  in  considering 
the  matter  before  they  retired.  And  the  morning  had 
hardly  dawned,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  roused  from  sleep  by 
one  at  the  door  demanding  admittance,  which  was  reluc 
tantly  granted,  until  it  proved  to  be  Mr.  Frederick  W. 
Seward,  whom  his  father  had  sent  with  the  following 
letter  :— - 

[SECRETARY  SEWARD  TO  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.] 

WASHINGTON,  February  21,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: — My  son  goes  express  to  you.  He  will  show  you  a 
report  made  by  our  detective  to  General  Scott,  and  by  him  communi 
cated  to  me  this  morning.  I  deem  it  so  important  that  I  dispatch  my 
son  to  meet  you  wherever  he  may  find  you.  I  concur  with  General 
Scott  in  thinking  it  best  for  you  to  reconsider  your  arrangements. 
No  one  here  but  General  Scott  and  myself  and  the  bearer  is  aware  of 
this  communication.  I  should  have  gone  with  it  myself,  but  for  the 
peculiar  sensitiveness  about  my  attendance  at  the  Senate  at  this  crisis. 
Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

He  brought  with  him  the  following  communications  made 
to  his  father  by  General  Scott  through  his  aid,  Colonel 
Stone : — 

[GENERAL  SCOTT  TO  MR.  SEWARD.] 

February  21,   1861. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: — Please  receive  my  friend,  Colonel  Stone,  chief  of 
General  Wightman's  staff,  and  a  distinguished  young  officer  with  me 
in  Mexico.     He  has  an  important  communication  to  make. 
Yours  truly, 

WINFIELD   SCOTT. 

[COLONEL  STONE'S  REPORT.] 

February  21,  1861. 

A  New  York  detective  officer  who  has  been  on  duty  in  Baltimore 
for  three  weeks  reports  this  morning  that  there  is  serious  danger  of 
violence  to,  and  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  passage 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  99 

tbrough  that  city,  should  the  time  of  that  passage  be  known.  He 
states  that  there  are  banded  rowdies  holding  secret  meetings,  and 
that  he  has  heard  threats  of  mobbing  and  violence,  and  has  him 
self  heard  men  declare  that  if  Mr.  Lincoln  was  to  be  assassinated 
they  would  like  to  be  the  men.  He  states  further  that  it  is  only 
within  the  past  few  days  that  he  has  considered  that  there  was  any 
danger,  but  now  he  deems  it  imminent.  He  deems  the  danger 
one  which  the  authorities  and  people  in  Baltimore  cannot  guard 
against.  All  risk  might  easily  be  avoided  by  a  change  in  the  travel 
ing  arrangements  which  would  bring  Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  por 
tion  of  his  party  through  Baltimore  by  a  night  train  without  pre 
vious  notice. 

No  one  of  ordinary  wisdom  with  such  information  before 
him,  would  have  been  justified  in  not  guarding  against 
the  danger  whatever  others  without  that  information  might 
think  of  it.  So  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  friends  decided  to 
change  their  plans.  The  original  plan  was,  that  after  Mr. 
Lincoln's  address  at  Philadelphia,  in  Independence  hall,  he 
should  go  the  same  day,  Friday  the  22d  of  February, 
Washington's  birthday,  to  Harrisburg  to  meet  the  assem 
bled  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  and  remaining  over 
night,  go  from  there  the  next  morning  to  Washington, 
passing  through  Baltimore  at  noon.  Mr.  Judd  and  Mr. 
Pinkerton  had  called  to  their  aid  Mr.  Franciscus,  the 
general  manager  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad,  and  Mr. 
Henry  Sanford,  representing  Colonel  E.  S.  Sanford,  presi 
dent  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company.  It  was  de 
cided  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  single  companion  should 
go,  on  that  night,  by  the  way  of  Philadelphia.  So  in  the 
evening,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  called  from  the  table,  went 
to  his  room,  changed  his  dinner  dress  for  a  traveling  suit, 
and  came  down  with  his  shawl  on  his  arm,  and  a  soft  hat 
sticking  out  of  his  pocket,  which  was  all  the  "  Scotch  plaid 
cap,  and  long  military  cloak  "  he  assumed  for  diguise.  A 
carriage  drew  up  at  the  side  door  of  the  hotel,  into  which 
he  stepped  with  his  single  escort,  Colonel  Lamon,  a  devoted 
personal  friend  from  Illinois,  "  young,  active,  and  almost  of 


100  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

herculean  frame  and  strength,"  and  they  were  driven  rapidly 
to  the  depot,  where  a  special  train  of  a  baggage  car  and 
a  single  passenger  car  awaited  them.  The  track  between 
the  two  cities  was  to  be  kept  clear  of  everything,  and  the 
eleven  o'clock  Baltimore  train  was  to  be  detained  for  them. 
Mr.  Felton  was  there  to  see  that  this  was  done,  while  Mr. 
Pinkerton  had  a  carriage  ready  to  convey  them  through 
Philadelphia  from  one  depot  to  the  other,  and  Mr.  Sanford 
saw  that  the  telegraph  wires  were  disconnected  that  no 
intelligence  of  their  departure  could  be  given  in  advance 
of  them.  "  So  at  midnight  they  took  their  berths  in  the 
sleeping  car  of  the  regular  train  from  New  York,  passing 
through  Baltimore  unrecognized  and  undisturbed,  and 
arriving  in  Washington  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
February  23.  Here  they  were  met  by  Mr.  Seward  and 
Mr.  Washburn,  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois,  and  con 
ducted  to  Willard's  Hotel.  The  family  and  the  suite  made 
the  journey  direct  from  Harrisburg  to  Baltimore,  according 
to  the  previously  published  program,  arriving  in  Washington 
late  that  evening."  It  was  at  once  telegraphed  to  Balti 
more  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  already  reached  Washington,  so 
that  all  motive  to  harm  his  family  and  friends  was  taken 
away  and  they  passed  through  undisturbed. 

Mr.  Lincoln  now  had  a  single  week  in  which  to  confer  with 
his  friends,  and  learn  the  opinions  and  spirit  of  his  oppo 
nents,  and  receive  the  criticisms  of  his  proposed  policy  from 
everybody,  which  he  particularly  courted.  In  this  respect 
nobody  was  so  free  as  Mr.  Seward,  who  was  to  hold  the 
most  responsible  position  in  his  cabinet,  in  his  suggestions 
and  recommendations  as  to  the  inaugural  address.  It  is 
full  of  interest  and  instruction  to  read  the  omissions,  and 
modifications,  and  additions  he  proposed,  and  see  what  were 
accepted,  and  what  rejected,  as  showing  the  peculiar  char 
acteristics  of  the  men,  and  the  special  lines  of  policy  which 
each  preferred.  Never  had  a  man  such  a  difficult  task  in 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  101 

statesmanship  before  him,  as  Mr.  Lincoln.  No  wonder  he 
felt,  as  he  so  often  expressed  it  in  his  addresses,  that  he  was 
"a  very  humble  instrument"  in  the  hands  of  God  and  of 
the  nation,  that  he  was  called  to  "a  task  which  did  not  rest 
even  upon  the  Father  of  his  Country,  and  so  feeling  I  can 
not  but  turn  and  look  for  that  support  without  which  it  will 
be  impossible  for  me  to  perform  that  great  task,  and  turn 
then  and  look  to  the  American  people,  and  to  that  God  who 
has  never  forsaken  them."  This  trust  in  God,  and  con 
fidence  in  the  people,  which  he  always  expressed,  and  we 
soon  found  was  so  sincere,  was  the  ground  of  that  confidence 
which  the  nation  soon  came  to  repose  in  him,  and  caused 
them  to  accept  his  guidance  and  carry  out  his  measures  in 
the  darkest  periods  of  the  war.  Those  simple  and  pathetic 
words  which  he  addressed  to  his  neighbors,  as  he  left  them 
to  assume  the  duties  of  president  at  such  a  critical  time, 
will  always  hold  a  hallowed  place  in  the  hearts  of  true 
Americans. 

My  friends,  no  one  not  in  my  position  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I 
feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have 
lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Here  my  children  were  born, 
and  here  one  of  them  is  buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you 
again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is  greater  perhaps  than  that 
which  has  devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington. 
He  never  would  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Prov 
idence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  1  cannot  succeed 
without  the  same  divine  aid  which  sustained  him,  and  in  the  same 
Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reliance  for  support;  and  I  hope  you,  my 
friends,  will  pray  that  I  may  receive  that  divine  assistance  without 
which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again  I 
bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell.— [Holland,  p.  254. 

The  4th  of  March  had  come,  when  the  inaugural,  the 
great  ceremonial  of  the  nation,  was  to  take  place.  In  some 
respects  it  was  more  imposing  than  the  crowning  of  a  mon 
arch,  for  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  choice  of  the  people ;  they 
conferred  upon  him  all  the  power  he  could  possess,  and 


102  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

they  could  take  it  from  him  and  bestow  it  upon  another  if 
they  found  it  necessary.  Then  the  world  was  looking  on 
with  peculiar  interest,  to  see  what  kind  of  a  chief  magis 
trate  we  had  chosen,  and  whether  he  would  be  able  to  carry 
us  through  such  a  crisis  in  our  history,  or  there  was  to  be 
an  end  of  the  only  successful  experiment  of  self-govern 
ment  on  a  great  scale.  There  was  an  intense  and  universal 
anxiety  to  know  what  Mr.  Lincoln's  position  and  that  of 
the  new  administration  was  to  be  in  regard  to  slavery  and 
secession.  Would  he  make  the  concessions  demanded  by 
the  former,  or  permit  under  any  circumstances  the  latter  ? 
He  listened  to  everybody  and  seemed  to  give  candid  consid 
eration  to  every  suggestion,  but  strenuously  refused  to 
decide  finally  upon  his  policy  until  he  had  taken  counsel 
with  those  who  were  to  make  up  his  cabinet,  and  then  he 
would  announce  the  result  to  the  country  in  his  inaugural 
address.  The  day  of  inauguration  came  this  year  on  Mon 
day,  and  opened  bright  and  balmy  like  one  of  our  Northern 
spring  days  two  months  later.  The  city  was  crowded  with 
visitors,  as  it  always  is  on  such  an  occasion,  only  it  was 
noticeable  that  there  were  fewer  from  the  South  and  more 
from  the  North,  especially  from  the  West.  Pennsylvania 
avenue  in  all  its  breadth,  and  for  the  mile  between  the 
President's  house  and  the  Capitol,  was  a  mass  of  people, 
and  so  was  every  street  leading  into  it  from  which  a  view 
of  the  procession  could  be  obtained.  There  was  as  little 
show  as  possible  of  troops  and  military  preparation  against 
disorder  and  violence,  and  less  than  700  national  troops 
were  in  the  city.  The  volunteer  military  companies  of  the 
city  and  of  the  district  were  there,  where  they  were  natur 
ally  in  place,  like  so  manjr  other  organizations  of  various 
kinds,  to  make  the  pageant  more  imposing.  But  the  police 
had  been  carefully  posted,  the  small  force  of  regular  cavalry 
was  to  guard  the  intersection  of  every  street  with  the  avenue, 
and  squads  of  riflemen  occupied  the  tops  of  some  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  103 

houses.  A  battalion  of  District  of  Columbia  troops  guarded 
the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  and  riflemen  occupied  the  windows 
of  the  wings  of  the  Capitol.  Nor  was  this  all,  for,  as  the 
latest  and  most  exact  history  of  this  period  informs  us, 
"  On  the  brow  of  the  hill,  not  far  from  the  north  entrance 
to  the  Capitol,  commanding  both  the  approach  up  the 
avenue  and  the  broad  plateau  of  the  east  front,  where  people 
were  massed  to  see  the  new  President  inducted  into  office, 
a  battery  of  flying  artillery  was  stationed,  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  which  General  Scott  remained  a  careful  observer 
of  the  scene  during  the  entire  ceremonies,  ready  to  take 
personal  command  and  direction  should  any  untoward 
occurrence  render  it  necessary."  * 

As  Congress  must  adjourn  at  noon,  President  Buchanan 
was  detained  at  the  Capitol  until  that  hour,  when  he  was 
driven  rapidly  down  the  avenue  to  take  up  the  new  Presi 
dent  and  escort  him,  as  the  custom  was,  back  to  the  east 
portico  of  the  Capitol,  where  his  inauguration  would  take 
place.  The  procession  was  made  up  of  these  two  person 
ages  in  a  modest  carriage  drawn  by  two  horses,  preceded 
by  a  company  of  sappers  and  miners,  followed  by  the 
infantry  and  riflemen  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
flanked  on  either  side  by  double  files  of  a  squadron  of  dis 
trict  cavalry.  Then  came  that  innumerable  company,  made 
up  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  of  Congress,  officers 
of  the  army  and  the  navy,  foreign  ministers  and  the  diplo 
matic  corps,  the  judiciary  and  the  clergy,  the  corporate 
authorities  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  political  and 
military  associations  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
finally  the  citizens  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  of  every 
State  and  territory.  These  as  they  took  their  line  of  march 
up  that  broad  and  crowded  avenue,  which  has  been  styled 

*  The  number  of  Government  troops  was  only  653,  exclusive  of  marines  always 
stationed  at  the  navy  yard.  This  is  given  in  President  Buchanan's  Special  Message 
to  the  House  in  answer  to  their  inquiry  why  he  was  assembling  such  an  unusual 
number  of  troops  at  Washington. 


104  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  "  Via  Sacra  leading  to  the  Capitoline  Hill  of  our 
Republic,"  cheered  on  by  bands  of  music,  and  welcomed  as 
they  advanced  by  countless  voices,  would  have  seemed 
another  Roman  triumph  to  one  who  could  not  understand 
that  our  war  was  just  beginning,  of  which  no  mortal  man 
could  tell  the  issue. 

When  the  procession  reached  the  Capitol,  the  Senate 
chamber  was  found  densely  packed  with  officials  and 
civilians,  and  here  a  new  procession  was  formed,  consisting 
of  the  President,  the  President-elect  and  his  family,  the 
Chief  Justice  in  his  robe,  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  with  the 
Bible,  who  escorted  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  east  portico,  where 
in  a  group  around  him,  and  in  the  presence  of  that  vast 
multitude  below  and  beyond  him,  he  was  inducted  with 
solemn  ceremony  into  his  high  office.  It  was,  as  has  been 
said,  a  remarkable  group  that  confronted  each  other  there, 
in  those  four  historic  personages  who  were  the  central 
figures. 

Senator  Douglas,  the  author  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  representing  the  legislative  power  of  the  American  Govern 
ment;  Chief  Justice  Taney,  author  of  the  Dred-Scott  Decision, 
representing  the  influence  of  the  Judiciary;  and  President  Buchanan, 
who  by  his  Lecompton  measures  and  messages  had  used  the  whole 
executive  power  and  patronage  to  intensify  and  perpetuate  the  mis 
chiefs  born  of  the  repeal,  and  the  dictum.  Fourth  in  the  group  stood 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President-elect,  illustrating  the  vital  political 
truth  announced  in  that  sentence  of  his  Cincinnati  speech  in  which 
he  declared:  "The  people  of  these  United  States  are  the  rightful 
masters  of  both  congresses  and  courts,  not  to  overthrow  the  Con 
stitution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who  pervert  the  Constitution." 
When  the  cheers  which  greeted  his  appearance  had  somewhat  abated, 
Senator  Baker  of  Oregon  rose  and  introduced  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the 
audience,  and  stepping  forward,  the  President-elect,  in  a  firm,  clear 
voice,  thoroughly  practiced  in  addressing  the  huge  open-air  assem 
blages  of  the  West,  read  his  inaugural,  to  which  every  ear  listened 
with  the  most  intense  eagerness. — [Nicolay  and  Hay's  History,  p.  277, 
and  Dr.  Holland's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  278. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  105 

It  was  a  remarkable  address,  considering  the  man  and 
his  antecedents,  the  times  so  critical,  the  clear  and  fair 
statement  of  the  great  question  at  issue,  over  which  the 
South  and  the  North  had  been  struggling  for  half  a  century, 
and  upon  which  they  were  about  to  rush  into  a  fratricidal 
war,  the  wise  and  least  irritating  way  in  which  the  subject 
was  discussed,  the  firm  yet  reluctant  way  in  which  the  new 
President  took  his  position,  and  indicated  what  the  nation 
might  expect  the  policy  of  his  administration  to  be.  These 
characteristics  of  it,  together  with  that  appeal  to  his  "dis 
satisfied  fellow-countrymen,"  and  touching  reference  to  the 
mystic  ties  which  bind  every  heart  in  the  land  to  its  history, 
will  cause  it  to  be  read  with  undiminished  interest,  so  long 
as  anybody  shall  take  any  interest  in  our  history. 

In  the  introduction,  the  President  corrects  a  misappre 
hension  that  existed  in  regard  to  his  position  on  the  great 
question  at  issue  between  the  North  and  the  South: 
"  Apprehensions  seem  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican 
administration,  their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal 
security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been  any 
reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed 
and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in. nearly  all 
the  public  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but 
quote  from  one  of  those  speeches  when  I  declare  that  I  have 
no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  1 
believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no 
inclination  to  do  so."  After  discussing  the  right  of  seces 
sion  and  showing  that  the  Constitution  makes  no  provision 
for  any  such  event,  and  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  very 
object  for  which  the  Constitution  was  ordained  and  estab 
lished,  "to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,"  he  adds:  "I 
therefore  consider  that  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the 


106  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent  of  my  ability 
I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins 
upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed, 
in  all  the  States."  Then  after  considering  the  decision  of 
the  supreme  court  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  admit 
ting  its  binding  force  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit  under  it,  he 
shows  that  its  sphere  and  power  must  be  limited  by  the 
power  and  sphere  of  the  other  departments  of  a  popular 
government,  otherwise  "the  people  will  have  ceased  to  be 
their  own  rulers  and  have  practically  resigned  their  govern 
ment  into  the  hands  of  that  eminent  tribunal."  And  finally, 
after  counseling  the  people,  "one  and  all,  to  think  calmly 
and  well  upon  this  whole  subject,"  before  they  break  down 
their  government,  or  essentially  modify  its  Constitution, 
and  have  confidence  in  the  intelligence,  patriotism,  and 
Christianity  of  the  people,  and  in  God  who  has  never 
yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  to  adjust  in  the  best 
way  all  their  present  difficulties,  the  President  closes 
as  follows : — 

In  your  hands,  ray  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and  not  in  mine, 
is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  government  will  not  assail 
you;  you  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government, 
while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  it.  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must 
not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords  of  memory, 
stretching  from  every  battlefield  and  patriot  grave,  to  every  living 
heart  and  hearthstone,  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be  by 
the  better  angels  of  our  nature. 

When  the  cheering  had  subsided,  the  Chief  Justice  arose, 
the  clerk  presented  the  open  Bible,  and  upon  it  the  Pres 
ident-elect  deliberately  pronounced  the  oath  of  office  :  "  I, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  faithfully 
execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  107 

will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Amid  the  shouts  of  the  people,  the  booming  of  cannon, 
and  the  inspiration  of  bands  of  music,  "  Citizen  Buchanan 
and  President  Lincoln"  returned  to  their  carriage,  and 
were  escorted  back  as  they  came  to  the  executive  mansion, 
where  they  bade  each  other  good-by  with  mutual  good 
wishes  and  hopes  for  the  country ;  the  one  to  enter  upon 
his  presidential  term  of  unequaled  perplexities  and  perils, 
and  to  be  cut  off  prematurely  by  martyrdom,  leaving  him  the 
most  peculiar  and  one  of  the  noblest  personages  of  our  his 
tory  ;  while  the  other,  spurned  by  his  Southern  friends  after 
they  had  betrayed  him  and  made  a  tool  of  him  as  long  as 
they  could,  and  neglected  by  his  partisans  of  the  North  as 
soon  as  they  found  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  their  party 
together,  found  a  temporary  asylum  with  his  friend,  Mr. 
Quid,*  soon  to  become  a  Confederate  officer,  until  the 
former  could  return  to  his  home  in  Pennsylvania,  there  to 
pass  wholly  out  of  public  life,  and  almost  out  of  public 
notice,  for  the  few  years  that  remained  to  him.  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  neither  an  unpatriotic  or  an  unprincipled 
man.  But  he  was  not  equal  to  the  emergency,  when  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  government.  At  the  dictation  of  the 
South,  he  introduced  into  his  cabinet  several  of  the  leading 
secessionists,  who  controlled  his  policy  and  tied  his  hands 
until  that  movement  was  almost  too  strong  ever  to  be 
checked.  He  was,  as  he  designated  himself  in  one  of  his 
public  documents,  an  "Old  Public  Functionary,"  trained  to 
administer  public  affairs  simply  by  rule  and  precedent,  even 
though  the  rules  were  wrong  and  the  precedents  bad.  He 
lived,  too,  in  the  most  corrupt  period  of  politics,  when 
such  maxims  as,  "All  is  fair  in  politics,"  were  not  only 

*  Mr.  Ould  was  United  States  District  Attorney,  made  such  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  and 
who,  though  a  native  of  Maryland,  soon  fled  to  Richmond,  and  entered  the  military 
service  of  the  Confederacy,  and  was  made  their  commissioner  for  the  exchange  of 
prisoners. 


108  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

acted  upon  but  avowed,  and, "  To  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils,"  and  before  the  civil  service  reform  was  undertaken, 
or  that  better  maxim  had  been  announced  in  an  inaugural, 
that,  "  He  who  serves  his  country  best,  best  serves  his 
party."  And  trained  and  practiced  in  such  a  school  up  to 
his  old  age,  perhaps  it  was  too  much  to  expect  that  he  could 
ever  change  his  principles  and  habits  to  meet  any  emer 
gency  however  dangerous.  And  so  this  one  of  our  Pres 
idents  retired  from  public  life  the  object  of  charitable  judg 
ment  and  almost  of  pity  from  the  country,  rather  than  of 
high  honor  or  grateful  remembrance. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  BREAKING  OUT  OF  THE  WAR. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  and  the  Views  Held  by  its  Members  and  by 
Him — The  Bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter — The  Purpose  of  South 
Carolina  Accomplished. 

Mr.  Lincoln   appointed  the  following  cabinet  officers : — 

William  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  State. 
Salmon  P   Chase  of  Ohio,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of  War. 
Gideon  Welles  of  Connecticut,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana,  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
Edward  Bates  of  Missouri,  Attorney  General. 
Montgomery  Blair  of  Maryland,  Postmaster  General. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  selected  Mr.  Seward, 
his  chief  rival  in  the  Republican  convention  which  nomi 
nated  him  for  the  presidency,  for  the  most  important  posi 
tion  in  his  cabinet,  and  the  three  next  appointments  were 
the  three  who  received  the  next  largest  votes  for  the  same 
position.  This  was  not  only  magnanimous,  but  fitted  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  the  North  in  the  new  administra 
tion,  though  some  of  its  members  were  distrusted  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  it  was  feared  that  some  of  the  others 
would  compromise  matters  without  settling  that  question 
properly.  But  it  was  an  able  and  trustworthy  cabinet, 
especially  after  Mr.  Stanton  went  into  it  a  little  later. 

The  exact  position  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet  was 
not  at  first  understood.  When  Mr.  Buchanan  was  asked 
what  he  thought  of  the  inaugural  address,  he  is  said  to 
have  replied  :  "  I  cannot  say  what  he  means  until  I  have 
read  it.  I  cannot  understand  the  secret  meaning  of  the 


110  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

document,  which  has  been  simply  read  to  me."  *  Senator 
Douglas  replied  to  a  similar  inquiry  :  "  Well,  I  hardly  know 
what  he  means.  Every  point  in  the  address  is  susceptible 
of  a  double  construction."  It  is  not  strange,  perhaps,  that 
the  secessionists  hardly  knew  what  to  expect  from  the  new 
administration,  when  the  President  stated  its  position  and 
policy  in  such  guarded  terms  and  with  such  evident  reluc 
tance  to  resort  to  force.  True,  he  claimed  for  the  govern 
ment  the  right  of  coercion,  but  he  might  never  exercise  it 
any  more  than  Mr.  Buchanan  did,  who,  though  he  gave  up 
the  right  of  coercion  with  reference  to  the  secession  of  a 
State,  did  make  it  a  duty  "  to  collect  the  public  revenues 
and  to  protect  the  public  property,"  and  claimed  the  right 
"  to  use  military  force  "  for  such  a  purpose,  but  he  never 
exercised  that  right  nor  discharged  that  duty.  Under  the 
shelter  of  such  impunity,  South  Carolina  had  already 
declared  itself  out  of  the  Union,  seized  the  Federal  arsenal 
in  Charleston  and  was  collecting  forces  and  constructing 
batteries  with  which  to  subdue  Fort  Sumter,  one  of  the 
fortifications  of  the  general  government  and  held  by  a  Fed 
eral  force.  And  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  he  claimed  such  a 
right  and  admitted  such  a  duty,  might  be  afraid  to  under 
take,  or  find  himself  unable  to  accomplish,  such  a  difficult 
task  any  more  than  his  predecessor.  The  truth  was  that 
no  other  administration  had  ever  come  into  power  beset  by 
such  obstacles  and  perplexities  as  this  must  encounter. 
Looking  back  upon  that  period,  and  understanding  better 
than  any  one  could  at  the  time,  what  agencies  were  plotting 
the  overthrow  of  the  government,  and  what  influences 
were  at  work  at  the  North,  as  well  as  at  the  South,  to  allow 


*  For  the  numerous  and  remarkable  suggestions  made  by  Mr.  Seward  in  respect 
to  that  paper,  and  as  to  such  as  were  rejected,  or  adopted,  or  modified,  ic  is  worth 
while  to  refer  to  them  as  given  in  full  and  compared  by  Nicolay  &  Hay  iu  their  history 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Acd  not  the  least  interesting  of  them  is  the  close  of  that  address, 
as  suggested  by  the  one  and  wrought  out  by  the  peculiar  genius  and  glowing 
patriotism  of  the  other.—  The  Century,  Dec.  1887,  p.  278. 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  Hi 

them  to  become  successful,  it  does  seem  as  if  the  prospect 
was  about  as  dark  and  threatening  as  it  could  be.  Let  one 
ask  himself  now,  what  should  have  been  done,  or  could 
have  been  done  better  than  was  done,  and  he  will  find  him 
self  unable  to  furnish  any  satisfactory  answer. 

Seven  of  the  fifteen  slave  States  had  already  seceded 
and  organized  a  government  of  their  own.  What  if  all  the 
rest  should  join  them,  as  Virginia  was  preparing  to  do? 
Would  the  North  be  united  in  sustaining  a  vigorous  and 
coercive  policy,  even  though  it  brought  on  war?  What  would 
the  business  interests  of  Pennsylvania  say  to  it,  or  the  democ 
racy  of  Connecticut  and  of  the  country,  whose  long  ascend 
ency  in  the  national  government  had  depended  on  the 
united  support  of  the  South?  And, amid  the  divisions  of  the 
North,  what  would  that  portion  of  the  public  press  think  of 
it  which  was  willing  to  let  these  "erring  sisters"  go,  sure 
that  they  would  soon  be  glad  enough  to  come  back  ?  or  the 
leaders  of  the  old  Abolition  party,  who  were  distinctively 
peace  men,  and  would  not  approve  of  war  in  any  case  ? 
Then  again,  if  the  South  were  united  and  the  North  were 
not,  could  the  rebellion  be  put  down  ?  and  if  it  was,  what 
kind  of  citizens  would  the  Southerners  make  as  conquered 
subjects  ?  Such  was  the  position  of  the  new  administration. 
And  if  ever  men  needed  the  rarest  wisdom,  the  firmest 
principle,  the  kindest  and  most  reasonable  disposition,  such 
as  Mr.  Lincoln  possessed,  and  "that  Divine  assistance 
without  which  we  cannot  succeed,  and  with  which  success 
is  certain,"  which  he  besought  his  neighbors  to  pray  might 
be  given  him,  as  he  left  them  to  enter  upon  the  presidency, 
that  administration  required  it.  For  just  then  the  nation- 
one  part  of  it  insane  in  its  passion  for  slavery  and  dream 
of  building  upon  such  a  basis  a  permanent  and  prosperous 
empire,  and  the  other  part  incredulous  that  it  would  ever 
be  attempted  and  utterly  unprepared  to  prevent  it— was 
suddenly  struck  by  that  dark  thunder  squall  of  war  which 


112  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

proved  to  be  the  prelude  to  such  a  long  and  terrible  storm. 
The  crisis  came  in  this  way.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet, 
while  asserting  the  right  of  the  government  to  use  force  to 
prevent  secession,  and  retain  its  forts  arid  public  property, 
were  naturally  reluctant  to  resort  to  this.  So  they  delayed, 
used  only  careful  and  conciliatory  language,  were  ready  to 
make  any  adjustments  that  would  not  give  up  free  territory 
to  slavery,  and  do  away  with  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
and  the  provisions  of  solemn  ordinances,  which  made 
slavery  an  allowed  local  institution,  while  freedom  was  to 
be  the  characteristic  of  our  republic,  and  rule  wherever 
slavery  had  not  been  permitted.  Then  the  struggle  which 
had  been  going  on  over  this  subject  ever  since  the  govern 
ment  was  fairly  established,  and  especially  over  every 
accession  of  new  territory,  had  finally  been  fairly  settled 
by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  ought  to  have  remained 
so.  Still  the  new  administration,  and  the  party  behind  it, 
were  well  disposed  towards  any  reasonable  concessions  that 
would  conciliate  the  South  and  prevent  war.  Secretary 
Seward,  abolitionist  as  he  was,  was  ready,  we  believe,  to  let 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  the  most  objectionable  of  all  meas 
ures  put  upon  the  free  States,  stand,  if  the  fugitives  might 
only  have  a  trial  by  jury.  Secretary  Chase,  as  pronounced 
an  anti-slavery  man  as  Mr.  Seward,  advised  the  free  States 
to  repeal  their  Personal  Liberty  Bills,  which  were  most 
offensive  to  the  slave  States,  and  as  to  which  there  was 
doubt  about  their  constitutionality.  The  President,  for  his 
part,  was  extremely  anxious  to  have  the  government  pur 
chase  and  emancipate  the  slaves  of  Virginia  to  prevent  her 
joining  the  Confederacy,  and  leading  off  the  other  border 
States  in  the  same  direction.  But  nothing  could  be  done  to 
avert  the  issue.  South  Carolina  was  provoking  an  attack. 
She  had  fired  upon  and  driven  off  the  "  Star  of  the  West," 
an  unarmed  steamer  sent  with  supplies  to  one  of  the  forts 
in  Charleston  harbor.  General  Bragg,  in  command  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Confederate  troops,  had  forbidden  the  furnishing  of  "  fuel, 
water,  and  provisions,  to  the  armed  vessels  and  forts  of  the 
United  States."  These  were  acts  of  war,  and  positive 
enough.  But  both  parties  were  reluctant  to  strike  the  first 
blow,  that  the  blame  of  it  might  be  thrown  upon  the  other. 
And  South  Carolina,  impatient  of  longer  delay,  did  it  with 
the  results  that  followed.* 

The  government  had  several  forts  in  Charleston  harborr 
of  which  Fort  Sumter  was  the  strongest.  So  when  Major 
Anderson,  who  occupied  Fort  Moult  rie  with  a  small  force, 
found  himself  likely  to  be  attacked  and  at  a  disadvantage, 
he  removed  his  men  and  supplies  to  Fort  Sumter.  It  is  a 
modern  structure,  built  of  brick  and  solid  masonry  from 
eight  to  twelve  feet  thick,  sixty  feet  high,  and  pierced  by 
two  tiers  of  portholes  from  bombproof  casements,  with  a 
row  of  unprotected  guns  upon  the  parapet  above.  It  lies 
upon  the  very  surface  of  the  water,  about  two  miles  and  a 
half  from  the  city,  upon  an  artificial  foundation  made  by 
sinking  shiploads  of  granite  chips  from  northern  quarries, 
at  a  cost  to  the  government  of  half  a  million  of  dollars  and 
ten  years  of  time.  It  was  hardly  finished  when  Major 
Anderson  took  possession  of  it,  and  it  had  only  seventy -five 
cannon,  though  built  for  140.  He  took  possession  of  it 
with  only  109  men,  fifteen  of  whom  were  musicians,  and 
thirty  more  common  laborers,  while  600  troops  was  its 
proper  garrison.  Then  again,  it  was  not  built  for  defense 
against  Charleston,  but  to  protect  Charleston.  So  when 
Major  Anderson  found  himself  exposed  to  a  dozen  or  more 
well-manned  and  powerful  batteries  in  his  rear  and  on  his 


*  For  one  reason  and  another  there  was  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  many,  to 
give  almost  any  indulgence  or  make  almost  any  concession  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
without  considering  very  closely  the  rightfulness  or  the  danger  of  it.  As  the  Pres 
ident  illustrated  it  to  his  cabinet  by  one  of  his  v'  little  stories  :"  "My  little  boy  once 
complained  to  me  that  his  brother  had  his  knife,  and  would  not  give  it  to  him. 
The  truth  was  Ted  had  sold  it  to  his  brother  for  candy  and  eaten  that  up.  So  I 
said,  O  Bob,  give  him  his  knife,  if  only  to  keep  him  quiet.  'Yes,'  he  said,  'but  I 
want  it  to  keep  me  quiet.1  " 


114  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

sides,  and  from  6,000  to  8,000  Confederate  troops  to  assail 
him  at  every  vulnerable  point,  and  when  a  fleet  that  had 
come  to  his  relief  lay  off  the  harbor,  and  communicated 
with  him,  but  dared  not  encounter  these  batteries,  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  he  expected  to  successfully  resist  such 
an  attack.  But  though  a  Southerner  himself,  unlike  so 
many  others  who  betrayed  their  trust  with  no  pretense  of 
resistance,  he  held  out  to  the  last  and  surrendered  only 
when  further  resistance  was  impossible  and  further  delay 
useless. 

The  attack  was  fierce,  and  while  it  lasted  the  scenes 
within  that  lort  were  terrible.  At  3.30  Friday  morning, 
April  12,  Major  Anderson  was  summoned  to  surrender, 
to  which  he  replied,  that  uhis  sense  of  honor  and  his 
obligations  to  the  government  would  prevent  his  compli 
ance."  An  hour  later  the  attack  was  commenced  by  a 
simultaneous  and  concentrated  fire  from  all  the  forts,  bat 
teries  and  an  ironclad  raining  solid  shot,  hot  shot  and 
shells  upon  that  devoted  spot  and  little  garrison.  Within 
the  bombproof  chambers  the  men  were  comparatively  safe, 
but  whenever  they  attempted  to  use  their  unsheltered  guns 
upon  the  parapet,  which  were  most  manageable,  they  were 
found  inferior  to  the  improved  guns  of  their  assailants,  and 
the  men  were  soon  driven  back  to  their  shelter.  Abbott 
-says  of  the  bombardment:— 

It  is  difficult  for  one  not  familiar  with  war  to  imagine  the  power 
of  the  missiles  which  modern  science  has  constructed.  Solid  walls 
of  brick  were  crumhled  down  like  powder;  cannons  weighing  thou 
sands  of  pounds  were  thrown  from  their  carriages  by  the  explosion 
of  shells.  Red-hot  shot  and  bursting  shells  soon  set  the  wooden  bar 
racks  of  the  soldiers  on  fire  and  nearly  the  whole  interior  of  the  fort 
blazed  like  a  furnace.  For  thirty-six  hours  this  terrific  bombardment 
continued  all  day  and  all  night,  with  but  occasional  lulls,  from  the 
early  dawn  of  Friday  morning  till  near  the  close  of  Saturday  after 
noon.  An  eyewitness  thus  describes  the  scene:  The  fire  surrounded 
us  on  all  sides.  Fearful  that  the  walls  might  crack  and  the  shells 
pierce  and  prostrate  them,  we  commenced  taking  the  powder  out  of 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  115 

the  magazine  and  throwing  it  into  the  sea,  which  we  did  to  the 
amount  of  ninety-six  barrels.  Owing  to  a  lack  of  cartridges  we  kept 
live  men  inside  the  magazine,  sewing  them  up  in  our  shirts,  sheets, 
blankets,  and  using  up  everything  of  this  kind  in  the  fort.  When  we 
were  finally  obliged  to  close  the  magazine,  and  our  material  for 
cartridges  was  exhausted,  we  were  left  destitute  of  any  moans  to 
continue  the  contest.  We  had  eaten  our  last  biscuit  thirty- six  hours 
before.  We  came  very  near  being  stifled  with  the  dense  smoke  from 
the  burning  buildings.  Many  of  the  men  lay  prostrate  on  the  ground, 
with  wet  handkerchiefs  over  their  mouths  and  eyes,  gasping  for 
breath.  It  was  a  moment  of  imminent  peril.  If  an  eddy  of  wind  had 
not  ensued,  we  all  probably  should  have  been  suffocated.  The  crash 
ing  of  the  shot,  the  bursting  of  the  shells,  the  falling  of  walls,  and  the 
roar  of  the  flames,  made  a  pandemonium  of  the  fort.  We  neverthe 
less  kept  up  a  steady  lire  as  long  as  possible. — [Abbott,  Vol.  I,  p.  89. 

But  the  end  had  come.  Their  bread  was  gone,  and  even 
their  rice  had  become  mixed  with  glass  from  the  shattered 
windows,  while  their  powder  was  almost  exhausted,  much 
of  it  having  been  thrown  into  the  sea,  as  above  mentioned, 
and  the  magazines  permanently  closed  for  fear  of  the 
spreading  conflagration.  The  flagstaff  was  repeatedly 
struck  and  finally  shot  away  half  way  up,  and  then  the  flag 
was  nailed  to  the  staff.  But  it  must  be  lowered  now  and  a 
white  flag  rim  up,  which  was  done  soon  after  noon  on  Sat 
urday,  the  13th  of  April.  The  terms  of  surrender  were 
soon  arranged.  The  fort  was  to  be  evacuated,  the  garrison 
to  retain  their  arms,  with  personal  and  company  property, 
and  march  out  with  the  honors  of  war  and  be  transferred 
to  some  government  vessel  outside  of  the  harbor.  So  the 
next  morning,  the  morning  of  a  peaceful  Sabbath  after  all 
the  thunder  of  battle  that  preceded  it,  at  nine  o'clock  the 
flag  was  lowered  with  a  salute  of  fifty  guns,  the  band  played 
"  Yankee  Doodle  "  and  "  Hail  Columbia,"  and  the  garrison 
marched  out  of  the  main  gate,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
waving  over  them,  and  went  on  board  of  the  transport 
Isabel,  to  be  taken  to  the  United  States  ship  Baltic  in  the 
outer  harbor,  which  carried  them  to  New  York. 

"  Strike  a  blow.     The  very  moment  that  blood  is  shed, 


116  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Virginia  will  make  common  cause  with  her  sisters  of  the 
South."  "  Sprinkle  blood  in  the  faces  of  the  people  of 
Alabama,  or  else  they  will  be  back  in  the  Union  in  less 
than  ten  days."  Such  counsel,  given  by  the  instigators 
of  the  war,  shows  that  the  mass  of  the  Southern  people 
loved  the  Union,  and  were  reluctant  to  resort  to  arms  even 
to  secure  greater  privileges  for  their  favorite  institution, 
which  was  undoubtedly  true.  And  this  urging  them  into 
violence,  by  the  assurance  of  impunity  and  the  promise  of 
success  in  such  a  conflict,  until  they  were  all  involved  to 
gether  in  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  treason,  shows  the 
desperate  character  of  their  leaders.  Of  course  South 
Carolina,  the  champion  of  State  sovereignty,  who  once 
attempted  to  carry  it  out  in  nullification,  and  was  now 
resolved  to  do  it  by  secession,  was  exultant.  With  her 
there  had  been  a  long  season  of  earnest  preparation,  impa 
tient  waiting,  anxious  hope,  and  when  the  reduction  of 
Sumter  had  been  accomplished,  there  was  a  corresponding 
relief,  and  exultation  and  confidence  for  the  future.  Per 
haps  it  is  not  strange  that  on  that  Saturday  afternoon,  when 
the  firing  had  ceased  and  it  was  known  that  the  fort  had 
surrendered,  the  bells  of  the  city  were  chimed,  guns  firedr 
and  the  whole  population  in  the  streets  congratulated  each 
other  on  their  wonderful  victory,  or  that  the  governor  of 
the  State,  in  his  address  to  the  citizens  in  the  evening, 
should  have  exultingly  said  :  "  We  have  humbled  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.  It  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  country  that  the  Stars  and  Stripes  have  been  humbled. 
We  have  defeated  twenty  millions  ;  we  have  brought  down 
in  humility  the  flag  that  has  triumphed  for  seventy  years. 
But  to-day,  on  this  thirteenth  day  of  April,  it  has  been 
humbled,  and  humbled  before  the  glorious  little  State  of 
South  Carolina."  Even  the  ministers  of  religion  reckoned 
their  success  as  the  seal  of  Divine  approval.  The  Roman 
Catholic  bishop  on  Sunday  celebrated  the  victory  with  a 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  117 

Te  Deum  and  congratulatory  address,  while  the  good  old 
Episcopal  bishop,  blind  and  feeble,  said  it  was  his  strong 
persuasion,  confirmed  by  travel  through  every  section  of 
the  State,  that  the  movement  in  which  the  people  were 
engaged  was  begun  by  them  in  the  deepest  conviction  of 
duty  to  God,  and  God  had  signally  blessed  their  dependence 
on  him.  But  we  are  poor  interpreters  of  God's  plans  when 
we  are  engaged  in  unrighteous  business,  or  blinded  by 
interest  and  passion.  The  wise  man  long  ago  observed  that 
"  the  end  of  a  thing  is  better  than  the  beginning,"  and  so 
it  was  here,  though  the  way  lay  beyond  great  fields  of  battle 
and  years  of  doubtful  and  desperate  struggle. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  UPRISING  OP  THE  PEOPLE. 

How  the  News  of  the  Fall  of  Sumter  was  Received  at  the  North— The 
Call  for  75,000  Men— Southern  States,  Not  in  Secession,  Refuse  to 
Obey  It— The  Demonstration  of  Patriotism  at  the  North— How 
Arms  had  been  Traitorously  Secured  by  the  South. 

Although  the  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter  was  feared  and 
expected,  it  seemed  as  if  it  could  hardly  be,  and  in  some 
way  would  be  prevented.  It  was  known  that  several  vessels 
of  war  had  gone  to  its  relief,  and  in  fact  they  lay  at  the 
entrance  of  the  harbor  and  communicated  by  signals  with 
the  fort  during  the  bombardment,  but  could  not  expose 
themselves  to  such  a  fire.  It  had  been  said  that  the  gov 
ernment  by  some  understanding  with  South  Carolina  might 
be  allowed  to  provision  the  fort  if  nothing  more,  and  both 
wait  for  further  developments.  It  hardly  seemed  possible 
that  war  should  be  resorted  to,  to  maintain  slavery,  and  to 
break  up  an  administration  opposed  to  its  extension,  when 
such  differences  had  always  been  allowed  in  regard  to  it, 
and  some  twenty  presidential  elections  taken  place  and  been 
acquiesced  in,  in  spite  of  all  sectional  and  party  differences. 
It  was  incredible  that  any  party  or  any  section  should 
attempt  to  pull  down  their  own  house  upon  their  own 
heads,  where  for  generations  they  had  dwelt  as  one  family 
in  peace  and  prosperity,  or  that  the  rest  of  the  country 
should  ever  allow  it  to  be  done.  No  definite  intelligence 
had  been  received  for  several  days  from  Charleston,  and 
when  the  attack  on  Sumter  began,  all  communication  what 
ever  with  the  North  was  prevented.  So  when,  after  those 
two  days  of  intense  suspense,  it  was  flashed  over  the  wires, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  119 

"Sumter  has  fallen,"  almost  before  the  reverberations  of 
those  besieging  guns  had  ceased  and  the  smoke  cleared 
away,  the  news  was  announced  on  the  bulletin  boards  of 
every  city  and  large  town  to  a  shifting  crowd ;  the  papers 
were  issuing  their  extras  to  carry  it  on  the  next  train  as  far 
and  as  swiftly  as  steam  could  carry  them ;  from  every 
station  the  news  was  spread  to  every  village,  hamlet,  and 
manufacturing  establishment,  and  somehow  the  birds  of 
the  air  seemed  to  carry  it  to  each  country  store,  black 
smith's  shop,  and  remote  dwelling,  until  that  event — the 
surrender  of  Sumter — so  insignificant  in  a  military  point  of 
view,  but  so  all-important  in  its  effect  upon  the  country, 
which  took  place  at  half-past  one  on  Saturday  that  four 
teenth  of  April,  was  known  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land  before  the  sun  could  set  and  the  peace  of  the  Sab 
bath  steal  into  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  effect  of  this  intelligence  upon  the  North  can  hardly 
be  described.  It  thrilled  every  soul.  It  brought  the  soberest 
reflection,  and  forecast  the  future  with  a  soundness  of  judg 
ment,  a  firmness  of  principle,  and  confidence  in  the  final 
result,  that  time  has  justified  and  will  forever  honor. 

The  newspapers,  as  a  rule,  answered  nobly  to  the  demands 
of  the  occasion,  and  spoke  patriotically  and  wisely.  Wit 
ness  a  single  extract  which  must  stand  for  many  more,  not 
all  so  well  expressed  or  so  far-seeing,  but  yet  showing  com 
prehension  of  the  facts  and  their  meaning  :— 

The  end  of  the  first  outbreak  of  war  has  come  soon,  and  the  flag  of 
the  country  has  ceased  to  wave  above  Fort  Sumter.  In  the  first  con 
flict  the  rebels  have  triumphed,  and  civil  war  has  been  inaugurated. 
What  the  end  will  be,  no  human  eye  can  foresee,  but  all  eyes  can  see 
that  we  are  in  the  midst  either  of  a  revolution  or  a  gigantic  rebellion. 
Force  must  now  be  met  by  force,  and  the  strength  of  the  government 
must  be  tested.  It  is  evident  that  nothing  less  is  aimed  at  now  by 
the  rebels  than  the  revolution  of  the  government.  They  boldly 
proclaim  their  determination  to  march  upon  and  capture  Washington 
and  become  the  possessors  of  the  archives  of  the  nation. 


120  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  reception  of  the  news  in  Springfield  on  Saturday  was  accom 
panied  by  the  most  profound  interest  and  excitement.  The  streets 
were  thronged  with  men,  universally  gathered  into  knots  where  the 
news  was  discussed.  There  was  only  here  and  there  one  among  the 
crowd  who  manifested  any  sympathy  with  the  rebels,  but  from  men 
of  'all  parties  the  assurance  came  that  the  government  must  be  sup 
ported.  If  the  feeling  here  is  an  index  of  the  general  feeling  of  the 
North,  a  spirit  has  been  aroused  which  will  spare  neither  men  n«ir 
money  for  wiping  out  the  rebellion,  and  expunging  the  mock  and 
mob  government  that  has  consented  to  head  it.  All  feel  that  the 
government  has  now  no  choice  but  to  go  forward  and  compel  respect 
for  itself  by  force.  One  hundred  thousand  men  and  one  hundred 
millions  of  money  could  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  government 
in  a  fortnight,  and  men  enough  poured  into  Washington  in  twenty- 
four  hours  to  meet  any  force  that  could  be  brought  against  it  in  a 
month.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the  administration  will  fulfill  the 
expectations  and  respond  to  the  voice  of  the  people. 

Civil  war  has  been  begun  by  the  rebels,  and  an  important  question 
arises  as  to  the  relations  which  the  party  in  the  North,  politically 
opposed  to  the  present  administration,  will  assume  toward  the  gov 
ernment.  Is  partisanship  to  be  subordinate  now,  and  patriotism 
dominant  ?  or  are  we  to  be  treated  to  caviling  and  poorly  marked  or 
openly  avowed  sympathy  with  the  traitors  ?  Are  there  men  in  any 
Northern  State  whose  blood  is  so  acrid  and  so  thin  that  they  can  take 
delight  in  the  humiliation  of  the  national  flag,  and  are  willing  to  aid 
-directly  or  indirectly  the  traitors  ?  We  hope  not.  We  hope  to  hear- 
on  every  side  the  expressions  of  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  the  deter 
mination  to  stand  by  the  administration  until  this  question  is  settled. 
And  we  may  as  well  declare  here  our  conviction  touching  the  state  of 
feeling  which  is  rapidly  developing  at  the  North.  The  time  is  coming, 
and  that  very  speedily,  when  traitorous  words  will  not  be  tolerated ; 
when  men  who  sympathize  with  rebellion  will  not  dare  to  open  their 
mouths  or  show  their  heads.  There  has  been,  in  one  part  of  our 
•country,  a  "reign  of  terror"  for  patriots;  there  will  come  a  "reign 
of  terror  "  for  traitors.  Curses  be  upon  him  who  will  not  stand  by 
his  country  and  his  flag  in  their  hour  of  peril. — [Springfield  Repub 
lican,  April  15,  1861.  * 


*  The  service  done  to  the  country  at  this  crisis  ?nd  all  through  the  war  by  the 
Northern  press  should  never  fail  to  be  appreciated.  Has'y  as  its  utterances  neces 
sarily  must  be,  partisan  as  they  must  also  be,  in  the  sense  of  holding  to  sorre  par 
ticular  policy  of  government  and  anxious  to  have  certain  men  elected  to  office  to 
administer  that  policy,  and  tempted  to  give  way  in  the  heat  of  a  canvas*  to  preju 
dice,  personality  and  misrepresentation;  i-till  how  few  of  its  utterances  breath  d 
•disloyalty  to  the  government,  or  wou'd  discourage  volunteering  to  uphold  the 
government !  How  soon  every  such  discordant  note  was  drowned  in  the  loud 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  121 

Sunday,  the  day  after  the  surrender  of  Sumter,  was  an 
anxious  and  busy  one  with  the  President  and  his  cabinet. 
They  were  deciding  upon  that  call  for  troops  which  was 
issued  the  next  morning,  and  summoning  to  their  aid  all 
who  could  help  them,  regardless  of  party  connections  or 
personal  animosities.  Among  others,  Senator  Douglas's 
support  was  secured.  Partisan  as  he  was,  and  a  relentless 
opponent  as  he  was  regarded,  it  is  interesting  to  see  what 
a  patriot  he  could  be,  and  by  what  gentle  influences  he 
could  be  controlled.  Dr.  Holland,  in  his  "Life  of  Lincoln," 
tells  how  this  was  brought  about  :— 

Hon.  George  Aslirmm  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  personally  on  the 
most  friendly  terms  with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas,  called  on 
the  latter  to  obtain  from  him  some  public  declaration  that  should 
help  the  government  in  its  extremity.  lie  found  the  Senator  sur 
rounded  by  political  friends,  who  were  soon  dismissed,  and  then  for 
an  hour  the  two  men  discussed  the  relations  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  the 
administration.  The  first  impulse  of  the  Senator  was  against  Mr. 
Ashmun' s  wishes,  who  desired  him  to  go  to  the  President  at  once 
and  tell  him  he  would  sustain  him  in  all  the  needful  measures  which 
the  exigency  demanded.  His  reply  was:  "Mr.  Lincoln  has  dealt 
hardly  with  me  in  removing  some  of  my  friends  from  office,  and  I 
don't  know  as  he  wants  my  advice  or  aid.''  Mr.  Ashmun  remarked 
that  lie  had  probably  followed  democratic  precedents  in  making 
removals,  but  that  the  present  question  was  above  party,  and  that  it 
was  now  in  the  power  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  render  such  a  service  to  his 
country  as  would  not  only  give  him  a  title  to  its  lasting  gratitude,  but 
would  show  that  in  the  hour  of  his  country's  need  he  could  trample 
all  party  considerations  and  resentments  under  foot.  At  this  juncture 
Mrs.  Douglas  came  in,  and  gave  the  whole  weight  of  her  affectionate 
influence  in  the  direction  in  which  Mr.  Ashmun  was  endeavoring  to 
lead  him.  He  could  not  withstand  the  influence  of  his  friend,  his 
wife,  and  that  better  nature  to  which  they  appealed.  He  gave  up  all 


demand  that  all  the  men  and  money  that  were  needed  should  be  furnished  at  once. 
Even  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  "  peace  party  "  was  strongest  and  coer 
cion  was  not  believed  in,  and  settlement  upon  any  terms  was  regarded  as  our  only 
relief,  the  press  as  well  as  the  people  responded  heartily  to  the  President's  call  for 
troops.  There  is  a  public  sentiment  in  the  press  which  corrects  its  own  mistakes, 
and  controls  by  its  abler,  and  wiser,  and  more  patriotic  utterances  those  who  would 
differ  from  them.  So  that  our  free  press  needed  no  government  censorship,  as 
in  other  countries,  but  helped  to  carry  us  through  the  war  as  much  as  our  army 
and  navy. 


122  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

his  enmity  and  resentment,  and  casting  every  unworthy  sentiment 
and  selfish  feeling  behind  him,  declared  his  willingness  to  go  at  once 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  offer  him  his  earnest  and  hearty  support.  It  was 
nearly  dark  when  the  two  gentlemen  started  for  the  President's 
house.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  alone,  and  on  learning  of  their  errand  gave 
them  a  most  cordial  welcome.  For  once  the  lifelong  antagonists  were 
united  in  heart  and  purpose.  Mr.  Lincoln  took  up  the  proclamation, 
calling  for  75,000  troops,  which  he  had  determined  to  issue  the  next 
day,  and  read  it.  When  he  had  read  it,  Mr.  Douglas  rose  from  his 
chair  and  said:  "  Mr.  President,  I  cordially  concur  in  every  word  of 
that  document,  except  that  instead  of  a  call  for  75,000  men  I  would 
make  it  200,000.  You  do  not  know  the  dishonest  purposes  of  those 
men  as  well  as  I  do." 

This  was  telegraphed  north  at  once  with  the  proclama 
tion,  and  caused  immediately  the  beginning  of  that  notable 
breaking  down  of  party  lines  in  support  of  the  government. 
Within  a  week  the  senator  from  Illinois  was  on  his  way 
home,  and  making  speeches  by  the  way  in  behalf  of  the 
government.  He  had  scarcely  reached  home  when  he  was 
taken  sick  and  died,  leaving  behind  him,  in  one  of  the  last 
letters  he  ever  wrote,  this  testimony  to  his  real  patriotism : 
"  We  should  never  forget  that  a  man  cannot  be  a  democrat, 
unless  he  is  a  loyal  patriot."  The  call  for  75,000  men  was 
prepared  that  night,  telegraphed  over  the  country,  and  pub 
lished  in  the  papers  the  next  morning.  It  read: — 

Whereas,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some  time 
past  and  now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  obstructed,  in 
the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  and  Texas,  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed 
by  the  ordinary  course  of  political  proceedings,  or  by  the  powers 
vested  in  the  marshals  bylaw:  Now,  therefore  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  for  the  militia 
of  the  several  States  of  the  Union  to  the  aggregate  number  of  75,000, 
in  order  to  suppress  such  combinations,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be 
duly  executed. 

The  details  for  this  object  will  be  immediately  communicated  to  the 
State  authorities  through  the  War  Department.  I  appeal  to  all  loyal 
citizens  to  favor,  facilitate  and  aid  this  effort  to  maintain  the  honor, 
the  integrity,  and  existence  of  our  National  Union  and  the  perpetuity 
of  popular  government,  and  to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  123 

endured.  I  deem  it  proper  to  say,  that  the  first  service  assigned 
to  the  forces  hereby  called  forth,  will  probably  be  to  repossess  the 
forts,  places,  and  property  which  have  been  seized  from  the  Union  ; 
and  in  every  event  the  utmost  care  will  be  observed,  consistently 
with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any  destruction 
of,  or  interference  with  property,  or  any  disturbance  of  peaceful 
citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country;  and  I  hereby  command  the  per 
sons  composing  the  combinations  aforesaid,  to  disperse  and  retire 
peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes,  within  twenty  days  from 
this  date. 

Deeming  that  the  present  condition  of  public  affairs  presents  an 
extraordinary  occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me 
vested  by  the  Constitution,  convene  both  Houses  of  Congress.  The 
Senators  and  Representatives  are  therefore  summoned  to  assemble  in 
their  respective  chambers  at  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  on  Thursday,  the 
Fourth  of  July  next,  then  and  there  to  consider  and  determine  such 
measures  as  in  their  wisdom  the  public  safety  and  interests  may  seem 
to  demand. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused  the 
seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  fifteenth  day  of  April,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-four,  and  in 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 
By  the  President. 
WM.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  border  slave  States  which  were  yet  in  the  Union, 
refused  to  furnish  any  troops  at  the  call  of  the  President, 
and  even  Kentucky,  which  professed  such  love  for  the 
Union,  replied  by  her  governor:  "Your  dispatch  is 
received.  In  answer  I  say  emphatically,  that  Kentucky 
will  furnish  no  troops  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subduing 
her  sister  Southern  States."  The  governor  of  Virginia 
replied:  "I  have  only  to  say,  that  the  militia  of  Virginia 
will  not  be  furnished  for  any  such  purpose ;  "  and  Governor 
Harris  replied:  "Tennessee  will  not  furnish  a  single  man 
for  coercion,  but  50,000,  it  necessary,  for  the  defense  of  our 
rights  and  those  of  our  brethren."  But  the  response  of  the 
North  and  West  was  entirely  different.  Governor  Curtin 
wrote  at  once  to  the  President,  that  Pennsylvania  would 


124  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

send  100,000  men  to  Washington  within  forty-eight  hours, 
if  desired.  The  New  York  Legislature,  on  the  eve  of  its 
adjournment,  and  the  very  day  Sumter  surrendered,  voted 
half  a  million  of  dollars  to  arm  and  equip  her  militia 
and  meet  the  demands  of  the  government,  and  Governor 
Morgan  issued  at  once  his  call  for  25,000  men.  Governor 
Sprague  of  Rhode  Island  offered  the  services  of  the  Marine 
Artillery  of  Providence,  and  a  regiment  of  infantry,  arid  to 
go  himself  in  command  of  them,  as  he  did.  Such  was  the 
prompt  and  hearty  response  for  troops  all  along  the  line 
of  the  free  States,  that  the  prediction  of  the  Springfield 
Republican,  that  "  one  hundred  thousand  men,  and  one 
hundred  millions  of  money  could  be  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  government  in  a  fortnight,"  was  no  extravagance  of 
enthusiasm,  but  only  a  just  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of 
the  people. 

Then  began  the  raising  and  forwarding  of  troops.  If 
the  States  had  been  in  possession  of  arms  and  equipment 
for  their  men,  they  would  have  poured  them  into  Washing 
ton  as  fast  as  the  railroads  could  have  carried  them.  But 
we  had  needed  no  troops  for  many  years,  arid  had  almost 
€ome  to  think  that  we  never  should  need  them  any  more. 
There  was  an  enrollment  of  men  fit  for  military  service 
between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five,  and  there  were 
a  few  armed  and  equipped  volunteer  companies  for  escort 
duty  on  public  occasions,  and  to  support  the  civil  authorities 
in  case  of  a  riot.  But  the  mass  of  the  militia  had  neither 
arms  nor  uniforms.  Even  the  arms  manufactured  by  the 
government  and  distributed  among  the  States  had,  under 
the  Buchanan  administration,  when  John  B.  Floyd  was 
Secretary  of  War,  been  principally  sent  to  the  South,  so 
that  our  arsenals  had  been  fairly  stripped  to  replenish 
theirs.  This  was  a  part  of  the  plot  of  the  Secessionists, 
and  carried  out  by  the  treason  in  Mr.  Buchanan's  cabinet. 
And  with  what  success,  let  Mr.  Pollard,  who  had  been  in 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  125 

government  employ  at  Washington  and  was  one  of  the 
original  Secessionists,  say,  as  he  does  in  his  "  Southern 
(Confederate)  History  of  the  War,"  p.  40  :— 

It  had  been  supposed  that  the  Southern  people,  poor  in  manufac 
tures  as  they  were,  and  in  the  haste  for  the  mighty  contest  that  was 
to  ensue,  would  find  themselves  but  illy  provided  with  arms  to  con 
tend  with  an  enemy  rich  in  the  means  and  munitions  of  war.  This 
disadvantage  had  been  provided  against  by  the  timely  act  of  one  man. 
Mr.  Floyd  of  Virginia,  when  Secretary  of  War  under  Mr.  Buchanan's 
administration,  had  by  a  single  order  effected  the  transfer  of  115,000 
improved  muskets  and  rifles  from  the  Springfield  Armory  and  Water- 
vliet  Arsenal  to  the  different  arsenals  of  the  South.  Adding  to  these 
the  number  of  arms  distributed  by  the  Federal  government  to  the 
States  in  preceding  years  of  our  history,  and  those  purchased  by  the 
States  and  citizens,  it  was  safely  estimated  that  the  South  entered 
upon  the  war  with  150,000  small  arms  of  the  most  approved  modern 
pattern  and  the  best  in  the  world. 

As  showing  how  far  treason  had  gone  in  betraying  its 
trusts  and  robbing  the  nation  of  its  arms  and  all  means  of 
defense,  we  have  only  to  refer  to  facts  like  these  :  Secretary 
Floyd,  of  whom  Mr.  Pollard  speaks  so  respectfully,  was 
'under  indictment  when  he  left,  by  the  grand  jury  at  Wash 
ington,  for  malfeasance  in  office  and  conspiring  to  defraud 
the  government.  Secretary  Thompson  of  the  Department 
of  the  Interior  left  behind  him  a  defalcation  of  nearly  a 
million  of  dollars  in  that  department.  Mr.  Howell  Cobb, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  resigned,  leaving  his  department 
and  the  government  without  credit.  Georgia  took  military 
possession  of  the  Federal  arsenal  at  Augusta,  and  also  of 
Forts  Pulaski  and  Jackson,  commanding  the  approaches  by 
sea  to  Savannah.  The  governor  of  North  Carolina  seized 
the  United  States  arsenal  at  Fayetteville,  with  Fort  Macon 
and  other  fortifications  commanding  the  approaches  to 
Beaufort  and  Wilmington.  The  governor  of  Alabama 
seized  the  Federal  arsenal  at  Mobile,  and  also  Fort  Morgan, 
commanding  the  approaches  to  Mobile.  In  Louisiana,  the 
Federal  arsenal  at  Baton  Rouge  was  also  seized  by  order  of 


126  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  governor,  and  the  two  forts  commanding  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  and  access  to  New  Orleans,  and  finally  the 
Federal  mint  and  custom  house  at  New  Orleans.  The  navy 
yard  at  Pensacola  was  also  taken  possession  of  by  Florida 
and  Alabama  forces,  and  Fort  Pickens  was  only  saved  by 
the  patriotism  and  intrepidity  of  Lieutenant  Slemmer. 
But  the  grossest  betrayal  of  trust,  and  of  greatest  imme 
diate  peril  to  the  government,  was  that  of  General  Twiggs, 
in  command  of  the  department  of  Texas.  He  had  distin 
guished  himself  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  received  a  pres 
entation  sword  from  the  government  in  honor  of  his 
services.  Yet  he  turned  over  his  entire  army,  with  all  the 
ports,  fortifications  and  property  of  that  department,  to  the 
Secessionists,  and  by  that  single  act  robbed  the  government 
of  one-half  of  its  military  force  and  its  ability  to  defend 
its  Mexican  borders,  and  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of 
property. 

The  defensive  fortifications  located  within  the  seceding  States  were 
some  thirty  in  number,  mounting  over  3,000  guns,  and  having  cost  at ' 
least  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  Nearly  all  of  these  had  been  seized 
and  appropriated  by  the  Confederates  before  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugura 
tion,  with  the  exception  of  Fortress  Monroe,  Ya.,  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C., 
Fort  Pickens,  Fla.,  and  the  fortresses  on  Key  West  and  the  Tortugas, 
off  the  coast  of  Florida.— [Greeley's  "'American  Conflict,"  Vol.  /, 
p.  413.  * 

Following  an  administration  that  had  allowed  such  things 
to  be  done  with  impunity,  and  without  even  asserting  the 
right  to  prevent  it,  the  new  administration  found  itself  on 
the  eve  of  a  formidable  civil  war,  without  any  army  or 
navy  worth  mentioning,  its  fortifications  occupied  by  the 
enemy,  its  very  arms  wrenched  out  of  its  own  hands,  with 
a  bankrupt  treasury,  and  not  even  credit  enough  upon 
which  to  make  a  decent  loan.  It  was  weak  in  everything 
except  its  right  position,  its  able  and  patriotic  President 


*  The  same  might  be  said  with  almost  equal  truth  of  our  navy. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  127 

and  cabinet,  the  intelligence  and  principle  of  the  people 
and  their  devotion  to  the  Union.  And  the  people,  instead 
of  waiting  to  have  the  government  save  them,  were  deter 
mined  to  save  the  government.  Had  it  been  any  other 
people,  or  any  other  form  of  government,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  this  government  would  never  have  been  saved. 
But  accustomed  to  do  everything  themselves  in  both  church 
and  state ;  to  elect  their  own  religious  teachers  and  magis 
trates  and  support  them  ;  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the 
parish,  the  school  district,  the  town,  the  state ;  they  were 
at  no  loss  to  know  what  to  do  or  how  to  do  it,  whether  it 
was  to  raise  an  army,  or  to  furnish  the  government  with 
the  loan  it  needed,  and,  when  this  was  done,  to  fight,  suffer, 
and  die,  rather  than  have  this  best  government  yet  organized, 
overthrown,  as  was  shown  by  the  response  which  the  Pres 
ident's  appeal  to  the  people  met  with. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  IN  CONNECTICUT. 

Governor  Buckingham  Calls  for  Troops  and  Pledges  his  Private  For 
tune  to  Equip  Them — The  People  and  the  Legislature  Respond 
with  Equal  Patriotism— Camps  of  Enlisted  Men  at  Hartford,  New 
Haven  and  Norwich — Washington  Cut  Off— Governor  Bucking 
ham's  Message  to  the  President  and  How  it  was  Sent  and  Received 
— The  Early  Volunteers — Governor  Buckingham's  Understanding 
of  the  Situation — Count  de  Gasparin's  "  Uprising  of  a  Great 
People." 

Governor  Buckingham  had  just  been  elected  governor 
for  the  fourth  time.  The  newly-elected  Legislature  was 
also  Republican  in  both  branches.  It  would  not  assemble 
for  a  fortnight,  but  time  was  precious,  and  the  Governor  did 
not  hesitate  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  such  a  crisis, 
and  relying  upon  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the 
people  to  sustain  him  in  it,  responded  at  once  to  the  Pres 
ident's  call  for  troops.  This  call  for  75,000  men  was  made 
on  Monday,  April  15,  two  days  after  the  fall  of  Sumter, 
and  was  telegraphed  over  the  country  to  meet  every  man 
at  his  breakfast  table  or  place  of  business  that  morning, 
summoning  him  to  his  duty  in  this  matter.  The  Governor's 
order  was  issued  the  next  day,  as  follows  :— 

Whereas,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  proclamation, 
declares  that  the  laws  are  now  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof 
obstructed  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  and  has  called  for  the  militia 
of  the  several  States  to  the  aggregate  number  of  75,000  men; 

And,  whereas,  the  Secretary  of  War  has  made  a  call  upon  the 
Executive  of  this  State  for  one  regiment  of  militia  for  immediate 
service; 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  129 

Therefore,  I,  William  A.  Buckingham,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
militia  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  call  upon  the  patriotic  citizens  of 
this  State  to  volunteer  their  services  and  rendezvous  immediately  at 
the  city  of  Hartford,  reporting  themselves  to  the  adjutant  general. 

The  very  next  day  he  issued  another  call  for  another 
regiment  to  rendezvous  at  New  Haven,  "  having  reason  to 
believe  that  the  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  other  public 
property  has  been  seized  by  the  revolutionists,  and  there  is 
immediate  danger  of  subverting  the  government."  Harper's 
Ferry  was  seized  by  Virginia  two  days  later,  but  the  arsenal 
and  workshops  were  blown  up  by  the  officer  in  charge  at 
the  last  moment,  though  more  or  less  of  the  machinery 
was  saved  and  removed  to  Richmond,  where  it  was  used  to 
manufacture  arms  for  the  Confederacy.  A  much  more 
serious  loss  overtook  the  government  at  this  time,  in  the 
loss  of  the  Norfolk  navy  yard.  Virginia  was  expected  to 
take  possession  of  this  navy  yard  and  Harper's  Ferry,  as 
well  as  capture  Washington.  Had  she  succeeded  in  secur 
ing  the  ships  of  war  at  Norfolk,  the  heavy  guns  (so  many 
of  them  splendid  Dahlgrens),  and  the  immense  store  of 
ammunition  and  material  for  ships  and  forts,  it  would  have 
gone  far  towards  supplying  the  Confederacy  with  a  naval 
force,  as  Harper's  Ferry  would  have  armed  their  land 
forces.  Fortunately,  though  at  immense  loss  and  hindrance 
to  the  government,  these  ships  were  fired  and  sunk,  and 
everything  else  blown  up,  and  thus  kept  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  rebels.  It  was  this  peril  which  led  the  Gov 
ernor  to  call  for  a  second  regiment  before  any  order  came 
for  them. 

He  had  already  decided,  the  moment  the  President's  first 
order  came,  to  apply  to  the  Thames  bank  of  Norwich,  of 
which  he  was  a  director,  for  a  loan  of  $50,000  on  his  own 
personal  security,  for  war  purposes.  Just  then  he  received 
a  telegram  from  Mr.  E.  C.  Scranton,  president  of  the  Elm 
City  bank,  New  Haven,  tendering  a  loan  to  the  State  of 


130  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  same  amount.  The  Thames  bank  immediately  offered 
him  1100,000  instead  of  $50,000.  Then  came,  one  after 
another,  tenders  of  $20,000  from  the  Fairfield  County 
bank,  $20,000  from  Rockville  bank,  $25,000  from  the 
Mechanics'  bank,  New  Haven ;  $50,000  from  the  Citizens' 
bank,  Norwich  ;  $500,000  from  the  several  banks  of  Hart 
ford  (one-tenth  of  their  capital),  and  the  New  Haven  banks 
soon  after  voted  a  loan  of  the  same  proportions,  so  that  the 
Governor  soon  had  at  his  command  more  than  a  million  of 
dollars,  freely  proffered  to  the  State,  with  no  other  security 
for  its  repayment  than  confidence  in  their  Governor,  and  in 
the  intelligence  and  principle  of  their  fellow-citizens.  As 
showing  that  this  confidence  was  not  misplaced,  it  should 
be  noticed  that  when  the  Legislature  came  together  one  of 
the  first  things  done  was  to  provide  for  such  obligations, 
and  it  was  voted  without  a  dissenting  voice  to  put  $2,000,000 
into  the  hands  of  the  Governor,  with  which  to  arm  and 
equip  10,000  men. 

The  above  is  by  no  means  a  complete  account  of  the 
funds  voluntarily  furnished  to  arm  and  equip  troops  before 
any  State  appropriation  was  made.  The  thousands  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  contributed  at  the  same  time,  to  give 
bounties  for  enlistment  and  to  provide  for  the  families  of 
those  who  volunteered,  to  say  nothing  of  what  went  during 
the  war  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  the  Christian 
Commission,  and  directly  to  favorite  regiments  and  com 
panies  and  individuals,  would  make  an  amount  simply 
incredible.  It  should  be  noticed  in  regard  to  the  loans 
made  to  the  State,  that  the  Governor's  drafts  upon  the 
banks  were  in  this  form :  "  Sir— This  will  be  presented 
by  -  -  through  whom  I  propose  to  avail  myself  of 

your  patriotic  offer  of  money  to  aid  the  State  amid  the 
present  national  calamities.  Honor  such  drafts  as  he  may 
draw  on  you  and  charge  the  same  to  the  State,  for  the 
final  payment  of  which  1  hold  myself  personally  respon- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  131 

sible" — thus  pledging  his  private  fortune  and  personal 
credit  for  all  they  were  both  worth. 

The  newspapers  of  the  time  and  later  records  are  full 
of  information  showing  how  troops  were  raised ;  how 
readily  the  people  understood  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it, 
though  neither  the  general  government  nor  the  State 
government  could  render  them  much  assistance ;  how 
every  city,  town  and  village  undertook  the  work  and  suc 
cessfully  accomplished  it.  Governor  Buckingham  had 
been  very  apprehensive  of  a  more  serious  state  of  things  in 
prospect  than  was  generally  supposed.  This  conviction 
was  deepened  especially  by  the  result  of  the  Peace  Con 
vention,  when  he  became  satisfied  that  the  South  would 
secede,  and  would  fight,  and  fight  fiercely,  unless  they 
could  secure  new  guarantees  for  slavery,  which  they  failed 
to  secure.  His  letter  to  the  President  somewhat  later,  in 
regard  to  the  extra  session  of  Congress  about  to  be  held, 
suggesting  legislation  which  he  deemed  necessary,  and  es 
pecially  his  urgent  recommendation  to  raise  a  much  larger 
army  than  was  proposed,  if  we  ever  expected  to  put  down 
such  a  rebellion,  shows  how  well  he  apprehended  both  the 
spirit  and  the  resources  of  the  South.  In  his  opinion  it 
was  to  be  no  u  sixty-days' "  affair,  nor  to  be  finished  up  by 
"  three-months'  volunteers,"  nor  by  75,000  men.  Hence 
his  recommendation  of  a  force  that  seemed  extravagant  at 
the  time  showed  his  just  appreciation  of  the  present  state 
of  things,  and  his  rare  forecast  of  the  future. 

In  prospect  of  such  a  state  of  things,  the  Governor,  as 
early  as  January,  had  issued  an  order,  as  commander-in-chief 
of  the  militia  of  the  State,  calling  attention  to  the  "  impor 
tance  of  filling  up  their  ranks  by  enlistments,  of  a  careful 
inspection  of  their  arms  and  equipments,  and  being  ready 
for  such  service  as  any  emergency  might  demand."  When 
the  crisis  came,  and  even  before  his  call  for  troops  was 
issued,  on  Sunday,  the  very  day  after  Sumter  fell,  and 


132  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

before  any  call  for  volunteers  from  either  the  President  or 
the  Governor  could  reach  them,  the  people  of  Wiusted  had 
been  invited  from  their  pulpits  to  meet  that  evening  in  their 
largest  hall,  "  to  consider  the  duties  of  patriots  in  the  pres 
ent  emergency."  They  were  all  actuated  by  the  same 
loyalty  to  the  government  and  love  for  the  Union,  and 
guided  by  the  same  good  sense.  For  when  a  gentleman 
of  prominence  and  political  influence  offered  a  resolution 
in  favor  of  withdrawing  the  United  States  troops  from  the 
forts  within  the  seceded  States,  the  proposition  was  received 
only  with  scorn  and  indignation.  Instead  of  this,  they 
prepared  and  signed  an  address  to  the  Governor,  requesting 
him  to  "  adopt  such  measures  as  would  give  him  an  oppor 
tunity  to  place  the  resources  of  the  State  at  the  disposal  of 
the  general  government,"  and  with  it  went  a  list  of  one 
hundred  young  men,  volunteering  to  go  to  the  war.  When 
the  company  came  into  camp,  as  it  soon  did,  there  was 
found,  as  a  private  in  its  ranks,  Hon.  John  Boyd,  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College  in  1821,  the  historian  of  his  town  and  late 
Secretary  of  State,  with  his  minister,  Rev.  Hiram  Eddy, 
who  became  chaplain  of  the  regiment.  *  The  next  day  a 
similar  meeting  was  held  in  New  Britain,  where  the  people 
pledged  themselves  to  support  the  constitutional  govern 
ment,  and  offered  their  services  to  the  Governor,  and 


*  It  is  said  of  this  "white-haired  John  Boyd,"  who  remained  with  his  company 
and  lived  in  the  barracks  until  the  regiment  was  sent  into  the  field,  that  he  was 
importunate  to  go  with  them  but  "  no  one  could  be  induced  to  pronounce  him 
young  enough  for  military  duty,  and  he  went  reluctantly  home."  Rev.  John  Pier- 
pont,  however,  the  distinguished  Unitarian  minister  and  poet  of  Boston,  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  graduate  of  Yale  in  1804,  was  allowed  to  go,  and  marched  into 
Virginia,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  as  chaplain  of  the  Massachusetts  Twenty-second. 
As  showing  how  all  classes  and  ages  breathed  the  same  spirit  :  "  The  first  to  enlist 
in  that  Winsted  company,  and  the  youngest,  was  Samuel  B.  Home,  a  private, 
seventeen  years  old,  who  was  quite  small  of  his  age,  and  would  have  been  rejected 
had  it  not  been  for  his  importunity.  He  served  faithfully  during  t  e  three-months 
service,  re-enlisted  and  bore  a  musket  as  private  for  eighteen  months  and  was  then 
promoted  to  a  captaincy.  He  was  in  twenty-five  battles,  and  was  wounded  three 
times,  and  served  at  the  close  of  the  war  as  provost  marshal  of  the  Eighteenth 
Army  Corps.  Two  of  his  uncles  were  officers  in  the  English  army,  one  of  them  on 
Wellington's  staff  at  Waterloo.  "-["  Connecticut  in  the  War:1  pp.  46  and  76. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  133 

through  him  to  the  President  of  the  United   States,  "  for 
the  maintenance  of  our  beloved  government,"  with  a  list  of 
seventy-eight  volunteers.     In   Danbury  the  citizens  assem 
bled  at  the  court-house  in  large  numbers  and  resolved  that 
"  the  administration  must  be  supported  in  suppressing  the 
rebellion."     And   here,  probably,  the  first  town  provision 
was  made  for  the  support  of  the  families  of  volunteers,  a 
plan  that  so  soon  became  well-nigh  if  not  quite  universal. 
Here  an  excellent  company,  the  "  Worcester  Guards,"  Cap 
tain    Wildman,  offered  its  services   to  the  governor   two 
days  in  advance  of  his  call.     Nelson  L.  White,  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Danbury,  entered  the  ranks  as  a  private,  though 
he  was  soon  promoted  to  be  major  of  one  regiment  and 
then  lieutenant-colonel   of  another.     Waterbury  promptly 
recruited  her  company  of  city  guards,  under  Colonel  Chat- 
field,  and  sent  them   into  camp,  while  the  Irish  Roman 
Catholics  assembled  and  fifty  of  them  voted  to  volunteer. 
Bridgeport  sent  one  company  composed  wholly  of  Germans, 
while   almost  every  company  in   camp  contained   more  or 
less  soldiers  of  foreign  birth.     Hartford,  which  had   been 
so  prompt  and   generous  in  providing  funds  for  the  war, 
was  no  less  so  in  furnishing  men.     And  this  was  the  intro 
duction  of  so  many  prominently  and  honorably  into   mili 
tary  life  that  it  is  worth  while  to  recall  the  development  of 
some  of  them  :— 

Upon  the  reception  of  the  Governor's  first  proclamation,  Joseph  R. 
Hawley,  a  Republican,  Albert  W.  Drake,  a  Democrat,  and  Joseph  Per 
kins,  met  in  the  office  of  the  Hartford  Press,  of  which  Hawley  was 
editor,  and  after  discussion  of  the  situation  signed  an  informal  enlist 
ment  paper  as  volunteers  in  the  First  Regiment,  and  issued  a  call  in 
tlie  morning  paper  for  men  to  join  in  a  rifle  company.  Before  sunset 
the  minimum  had  enlisted,  and  at  a  great  meeting  in  the  evening, 
presided  over  by  Lieutenant-Governor  Catlin,  the  company  was  filled. 
In  this  company  was  only  one  man  who  had  ever  seen  service  on  any 
field,  and  only  two  who  had  ever  been  in  the  militia.  The  command 
of  the  company  was  offered  to  and  accepted  by  George  H.  Burnham, 
lieutenant-colonel  of  the  First  Connecticut  Militia.  Hawley  became 


134  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

first  lieutenant  and  Drake  second  lieutenant,  Perkins  going  into  the 
ranks  as  a  private.  Captain  Burnham  soon  became  colonel  of  the 
First,  and  afterwards  of  the  Twenty-second.  Lieutenant  Hawley, 
ultimately  brigadier,  and  brevet-major-general,  and  afterward  gov 
ernor  of  the  State,  and  then  senator  in  Congress.  Lieutenant  Drake, 
colonel  of  the  Tenth,  died  in  service,  and  Private  Perkins  became 
colonel  of  a  United  States  colored  regiment.— ["  Connecticut  in 
the  War." 

Another  Hartford  company, fck  the  City  Guard,"  immediately 
volunteered  and  filled  up  its  ranks,  while  a  third  was  organ 
ized  and  soon  went  into  camp.  Colonel  Samuel  Colt  also 
offered  to  raise  a  regiment  and  arm  it  with  revolving  breech 
rifles  of  his  own  manufacture.  His  purpose  was  .to  have 
every  man  some  six  feet  high  and  a  good  shot, — a  regiment  of 
sharpshooters.  But  on  account  of  some  disagreement  as  to 
the  use  of  such  irregular  arms  in  the  service,  and  other 
reasons,  the  regiment,  numbering  nearly  700  men  of  this 
class,  was  disbanded,  though  many  of  them  were  afterwards 
incorporated  into  other  companies,  particularly  those  that 
went  to  make  up  the  Fifth  Regiment,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  Orris  S.  Ferry,  who  afterwards  became  Governor 
Buckingham's  associate  senator  in  Congress. 

Nor  were  the  other  cities  and  towns  of  the  States  behind 
Hartford  in  their  proportionate  liberality  and  promptness  to 
respond  to  the  call  for  troops.  The  first  war  meeting  in 
Norwich,  the  home  of  the  Governor,  was  held  as  soon  as  a 
single  day's  notice  could  be  given  of  it,  when  the  people 
came  together  as  a  mass,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
after  subscribing  a  fund  of  $20,000,  set  about  raising 
troops.  The  very  next  day  Frank  S.  Chester,  bookkeeper 
in  the  Thames  bank  commenced  a  company,  and  enlisted 
sixty-five  men  before  night,  who  took  the  name  of  the 
"  Buckingham  Rifles." 

The  following  account  of  Captain  Chester  and  his  company  as  they 
left  for  the  front,  is  given  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day:  "One  of 
the  companies  comprising  the  Second  Regiment  of  the  Connecticut 
troops  which  have  just  left  for  the  seat  of  war,  is  the  '  Buckingham 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  135 

Rifles,'  of  Norwich.  Captain  Chester,  who  is  the  son  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Chester  of  Buffalo,  was  a  clerk  in  one  of  the  banks  in  Norwich,  and 
having  been  educated  in  a  military  school,  set  out  to  raise  a  company. 
It  was  Friday  morning  after  the  surrender  of  Sumter,  and  before 
night  he  had  raised  one.  He  put  them  under  drill  at  once  and 
drilled  them  through  Saturday  and  Sunday  and  Monday,  when  at 
night  he  fainted  and  fell  upon  the  floor  of  the  drill-room.  They 
were  to  leave  for  New  Haven  the  next  day,  when  some  one  said  to 
him:  '  Why,  Chester,  you  can't  go  to-morrow— you  mustn't  go.'  'I 
shall  go  if  I  am  carried,'  was  his  reply.  And  the  next  day  he 
marched  to  the  cars  at  the  head  of  his  company,  pale  and  weak,  lean 
ing  on  the  arm  of  the  Governor,  followed  by  the  hearts  and  prayers 
of  the  whole  city.  This  incident  may  be  worth  remembering  till  we 
hear  again  from  Captain  Chester  and  his  Rifles." 

From  this  time  volunteering  never  faltered,  and  the  re- 
suit  showed  the  quality  of  the  men  who  offered  their  ser 
vices  to  the  government.  *  New  London  promptly  raised 
her  $10,000,  and  her  "  City  Guards  "  filled  up  their  ranks 
"  to  be  ready  to  march  at  a  minute's  notice."  Mystic,  a 
flourishing  little  shipbuilding  village  in  that  vicinity, 
raised  funds  generously  and  sent  twenty-four  young  volun 
teers  to  the  Fourth  Regiment ;  while  the  ."  Mallory  Boys," 
sons  of  one  of  the  principal  shipbuilders,  offered  their 
yacht  of  a  hundred  tons  burden  to  the  government  free  of 
expense  during  the  war,  and  she  was  accepted.  "  Old 
Windham  county,"  the  papers  say,  "  has  not  been  so  much 
aroused  since  Putnam  left  his  plow  in  the  furrow  and  de 
parted  for  Lexington  in  1775,"  and  at  a  mass  meeting  held 
at  the  shire  town  of  the  county  and  presided  over  by  ex- 
Governor  Cleveland,  an  old  Democrat,  15 ,600  was  subscribed 
for  war  purposes  and  sixty  men  raised  in  thirty  minutes. 
The  neighboring  towns  all  partook  of  the  same  spirit  and 
sent  their  quotas  into  camp. 

*  The  Governor  may  have  been  thought  to  have  bestowed  his  commissions 
pretty  liberally  upon  the  citizens  of  his  own  town.  But  this  list  of  names  will  in 
dicate  the  wisJom  of  his  selection:  Brig.  Gen.  Daniel  Tyler;  Brev.  Brig.  Gen. 
Henry  W.  Birge;  Brig.  Gen.  Harland  ;  Brev.  Gen.  William  G.  Ely ;  Brev.  Brig. 
Gen.  Alfred  P.  Rockwell ;  the  last  four  of  them,  out  of  five,  having  entered  the 
service  from  civil  life ;  not  to  speak  of  others  who  filled  with  equal  ability  and 
fidelity  the  lower  positions  assigned  them. 


136  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

There  were  three  camps  of  equipment  and  instruction 
established  in  the  State:  "Camp  Buckingham."  at  Hart 
ford  ;  "  Camp  Aiken,"  at  Norwich,  and  "  Camp  Brewster," 
at  New  Haven.  The  men  of  the  region  were  not  neces 
sarily  sent  to  the  nearest  camp,  but  to  the  one  where  a 
regiment  was  being  filled  up,  so  that  the  first  regiment  to 
be  mustered  in,  and  the  first  to  go  to  the  front  being  that 
so  vigorously  started  at  Hartford,  was  equipped  and  drilled 
in  the  camp  at  New  Haven.  New  Haven  also  afforded 
certain  facilities  for  the  drilling  of  troops  which  the  Gov 
ernor  had  not  been  slow  to  avail  himself  of.  General  Russell, 
a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1833,  had  built  up  there  a  large  and 
successful  classical  and  military  institution,  which  fur 
nished  any  number  of  drill  masters.  It  was  amusing  to 
see  these  mere  boys  putting  those  stalwart  men,  college 
students  and  professors,  through  their  exacting  and  weari 
some  drill.  But  it  was  so  valued  that  it  was  willingly 
submitted  to,  and  by  many  who  could  never  expect  to  be 
called  into  actual,  service. 

Daily  contact  with  soldiers  and  the  daily  sight  of  the  vacant  places 
of  undergraduates,  tended  to  make  the  Yale  students  restless  and 
uneasy.  "We  must  be  ready  for  the  next  call,"  they  said.  Each  class 
became  a  military  company  with  frequent  drills  and  creditable  dis 
cipline.  The  same  feeling  prompted  the  organization  of  the  "  Gradu 
ate's  Guard,"  students  of  theology,  law,  medicine  and  philosophy, 
with  the  learned  professors  of  the  college,  who  became  all  at  once 
obedient  and  patient  students  in  the  school  of  the  soldier.  These 
drills  were  far  from  fruitless.  The  older  members  one  by  one 
dropped  out,  but  the  rest  drilled  regularly  and  with  good  progress. 
The  next  call  was  made,  and  we  sent  to  the  front  our  full  quota. 
Another  call  came,  and  a  third.  We  gave  our  sturdiest  and  best, 
until  nearly  one-half  of  the  graduate's  guard  were  soldiers  of  the 
Republic." — ["  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  p.  76. 

And  what  was  true  of  this  college  was  also  true  of  the 
other  two  colleges  of  the  State.  In  the  Fourth  Regiment, 
afterwards  organized  and  encamped  at  Hartford,  was 
almost  an  entire  company  known  as  the  "  Wesley." n  Guards," 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  137 

and  mostly  made  up  of  students  in  Wesleyan  University, 
while  the  students  of  Trinity  College  were  found  scattered 
through  the  different  regiments. 

As  New  Haven  was  the  first  to  offer  the  Governor  funds 
with  which  to  raise  troops,  she  immediately  set  about  fur 
nishing  men  and  equipping  them,  and  providing  for  their 
families.  As  soon  as  the  call  for  troops  came,  a  mass 
meeting  was  held,  the  mayor  presiding,  and  all  parties  par 
ticipating,  at  which  it  was  recommended  that  the  Common 
Council  appropriate  110,000  for  the  families  of  volunteers, 
which  was  done,  only  the  amount  was  doubled. 

Of  private  benefactors,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  thoughtful  was 
Mr.  Thomas  II.  Trowbridge  of  this  city,  who,  before  a  company  was 
formed,  offered  $500  for  the  support  of  the  families  of  volunteers 
during  their  absence,  which  at  the  outset  was  to  be  for  only  three 
months,  thus  beginning  a  course  of  unstinted  liberality,  which  he 
continued  throughout  the  struggle,  and  initiated  that  great  patriotic 
charity  which,  continued  by  private  individuals,  and  finally  adopted 
by  towns  and  states,  extended  help  to  all  the  families  of  absent 
soldiers.  Mr.  David  Clark  of  Hartford  rose  in  the  first  war  meeting 
there,  and  offered  to  support  one  hundred  families  of  volunteers  dur 
ing  the  war.  This  work  was  virtually  taken  off  his  hands  by  a  vote 
of  the  town  soon  after,  but  his  patriotism  and  benevolence  found  no 
check,  until  directly  and  indirectly  he  had  given  the  sum  of  $t>0,000 
to  the  work  of  prosecuting  the  war.— ["  Connecticut  in  the  War." 

Mr.  James  Brewster  was  another  eminently  patriotic  and 
benevolent  citizen  of  New  Haven,  after  whom  their  camp 
was  named.  He  uniformed  and  equipped  throughout  one 
of  the  companies  of  the  city,  the  "  Brewster  Rifles, "  besides 
being  an  important  adviser  and  helper  in  the  whole  work 
of  raising  troops. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  first  volunteers  at  New  Haven, 
they  had  to  be  quartered  in  public  and  private  buildings, 
and  their  officers  and  friends  were  obliged  to  provide  for 
them  until  the  State  could  do  it.  Happily,  they  found  such 
friends  as  we  have  spoken  of,  in  all  their  places  of  encamp 
ment,  and  these,  with  their  fellow-townsmen  and  friends 


138  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

at  home,  furnished  them  with  comforts,  and  even  luxuries,, 
such  as  soldiers  never  had  before.  They  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  State.  They  came  as  companies,  some  of  them 
organized  and  with  well-filled  ranks;  more  in  squads,  repre 
senting  the  contribution  of  some  town,  or  village,  or  neigh 
borhood,  but  all  anxious  to  get  into  the  field.  They  came 
here  especially  because  the  First  Regiment  was  to  be  fitted 
out  here,  and  as  this  was  the  only  regiment  then  called  for, 
they  were  afraid  they  might  never  be  wanted.  They  hoped 
that  they  might  at  least  get  the  places  of  such  as  were 
rejected,  or  induce  some  who  had  been  accepted  to  let  them 
become  their  substitutes.  So  universal  was  this  spirit  in  sup 
port  of  the  Union  that  within  one  week  after  the  call  for  a 
single  regiment  was  made,  three  regiments  were  in  camp, 
and  within  three  weeks  fifty-four  companies  had  tendered 
their  services  to  the  Governor,  being  five  times  the  quota 
of  the  State  under  the  President's  call  for  75,000  troops. 

Such  was  the  response  of  the  State,  and  from  every  part 
of  it,  to  the  call  for  volunteers  and  their  equipment  for  the 
field.  It  certainly  was  not  for  the  compensation  that  so 
many  enlisted,  when  the  pay  of  a  soldier  was  only  twelve 
dollars  or  so  a  month,  with  perhaps  one  hundred  or  two 
hundred  dollars  bounty.  So  strong  and  so  pure  was  the 
patriotism  of  our  people,  that  other  considerations  were 
generally  lost  sight  of.  War  was  not  popular.  The  War 
of  the  Revolution  we  honored  and  the  men  engaged  in  it, 
because  we  had  a  right  to  such  independence,  and  secured 
self-government,  and  were  teaching  the  world  how  it  could 
be  safely  administered.  But  the  war  of  1812  was  regarded 
as  less  necessary,  while  the  Mexican  war  was  an  abomina 
tion  to  the  North  because  waged  in  the  interest  of  slavery. 
It  was  even  difficult  to  keep  up  a  few  military  companies 
for  public  display  and  escort  duty,  and  to  support  the  police 
in  case  of  a  mob.  Many  felt  that  such  "  fuss  and  feathers  " 
seemed  childish  in  full-grown  and  sober  men.  But  here 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  139 

was  a  necessity  which  nothing  but  military  organization 
could  cope  with.  The  government  was  in  danger,  and  if  it 
was  a  good  government  and  worth  preserving,  what  else 
could  an  intelligent  and  conscientious  people  do,  but  defend 
it,  and  fight  for  its  defence  when  it  had  become  absolutely 
necessary  ?  What  a  pity  the  South  could  not  have  under 
stood  us  a  little  better,  and  instead  of  regarding  us  as  only 
mean  spirited  and  money  loving,  could  not  have  conceived 
of  us  also  as  having  ordinary  good  sense,  and  some  con 
science,  and  a  little  liberality  when  great  expenditures  were 
demanded !  Where  was  their  sagacity  and  statesmanship 
that  did  not  even  suspect  us  as  possessed  of  such  qualities, 
before  they  encountered  them  so  recklessly?  At  any  rate, 
from  this  old  New  England  State,  with  its  history  of  the 
Revolution,  and  its  Puritan  Governor,  and  traditional  love 
of  liberty,  and  devotion  to  free  institutions  in  both  State  and 
church,  what  else  could  have  been  expected,  than  such  an 
" uprising  of  the  people"  in  such  an  emergency?  It  was 
this  tide  of  liberty  and  loyalty  sweeping  over  the  North,  so 
high  and  resistlessly,  that  filled  up  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  Even  New  York  city,  which  appeared  so  badly 
in  the  " Peace  Convention,"  where  every  concession  was  to 
be  made  to  Virginia,  and  additional  guarantees  given  to 
slavery  ;  even  she  was  swept  from  her  feet  before  such  a 
spirit,  and  forgot  the  interests  of  trade,  and  the  confisca 
tion  of  her  dues  at  the  South,  to  proffer  her  troops  and 
wealth  and  business  ability  to  the  government,  as  freely 
as  any  of  us.* 

*  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  in  his  memoirs  of  his  father,  General  John  A.  Dix,  gives  a 
strik  ng  illustration  of  this,  when  describing  the  effect  upon  the  city  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Massachusetts  Sixth  Regiment,  the  first  troops  sent  from  the  North  for  the 
relief  of  Washington  :  '•  Never  to  my  dying  day  shall  I  forget  a  scene  witnessed  on 
Thursday  Apt  il  19,  three  days  after  the  President's  first  call  for  troops.  A  regiment 
had  arrived  from  Massachusetts  on  its  way  to  Washington  v.a  Baltimore.  They 
came  at  night,  and  it  was  understood  that  after  breakfasting  at  the  Astor  House, 
the  march  would  be  lesumed.  By  nine  in  the  morning  an  immense  crowd  had 
assembled  about  t'-e  hotel.  Broadway,  from  Barclay  to  Fulton  street,  and  the 
lower  end  of  Park  How  were  occupied  by  a  dense  mas-s  of  human  beings  all, 


1-40  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  equipment  of  troops  was  a  difficult  matter  at  the 
outset  of  the  war.  Massachusetts  had  become  the  envy  of 
the  other  States,  because  at  the  recommendation  of  Gov 
ernor  Andrew  she  had  armed  and  thoroughly  equipped  two 
of  her  regiments  in  anticipation  of  such  need  of  them,  as 
soon  came,  and  one  of  them,  the  famous  Sixth,  had  been  of 
immense  service  in  pushing  its  way  through  Baltimore, 
when  Pennsylvania  troops  were  compelled  to  turn  back. 
They  had  no  arms,  and  it  was  unwise  to  encounter  such  an 
infuriated  and  well-prepared  mob  as  well-armed  troops 
could  scarcely  resist.  So  every  effort  had  to  be  made  in 
Connecticut  to  supply  such  deficiencies.  The  Governor  on 


watching:  the  front  entrance,  at  which  the  regiment  was  to  file  out.  From  side  to 
side,  from  wall  to  wall,  extended  that  innumerable  host,  silent  as  the  grave,  expect 
ant,  something  unspeakable  in  their  faces.  It  was  the  dead,  deep  hush  before  the 
thunderstorm.  At  last  a  low  murmur  was  heard  ;  it  sounded  somewhat  like  a 
gasp  of  men  in  suspense,  and  the  cause  was  that  the  soldiers  had  appeared,  their 
leading  files  descending  the  steps.  By  the  twinkle  of  their  bayonets  about  the 
heads  of  the  crowd,  their  course  could  be  traced  out  into  the  open  street  in  front. 
Formed  at  last  in  column  they  stood,  the  band  at  the  head,  and  the  word  was  given, 
'  March  ! '  Still  dead  silence  prevailed.  The  drums  rolled  out  the  time  ;  the  regi 
ment  was  in  motion  And  when  the  band,  bursting  into  full  volume,  struck  up— 
what  other  tune  could  the  Massachusetts  men  have  chosen?—' Yankee  Doodle  !  '—I 
caught  about  two  bars  and  a  half  of  the  old  music,  not  more,  for  instantly  there 
arose  a  sound  such  as  many  a  man  never  heard  in  all  his  life,  and  never  will  hear . 
such  as  is  never  heard  more  than  once  in  a  lifetime.  Not  more  awful  is  the  thunder 
of  heaven,  as  with  sudden  peal  it  smites  into  silence  all  lesser  sounds,  and  rolling 
through  the  vault  above  us  fills  earth  and  sky  with  the  shock  of  its  terrible  voice. 
One  terrific  roar  burst  from  the  multitude,  leaving  nothing  audible  save  its  own 
reverberation.  We  saw  the  heads  of  armed  men,  the  gleam  of  their  weapons,  the 
regimental  colors,  all  moving  on,  pageant-like ;  but  naught  could  we  hear  save  that 
hoarse,  heavy  surge,  one  general  acclaim,  one  wild  shout  of  joy  and  hope,  one  end 
less  cheer,  rolling  up  and  down,  from  side' to  side,  above,  below,  to  right,  to  left, 
the  voice  of  approval,  of  consent,  of  unity  in  act  and  wi'l.  No  one  v*ho  saw  or 
heard  cou'd  doubt  how  New  York  was  going.  The  North  was  rising,  and  the  ques 
tion  was  often  asked  by  those  who  were  watching  events,  '  How  will  New  York 
go  ? '  There  were  sinister  hopes  in  certain  quarters  of  a  strong  sympathy  with  seces 
sion  movements  ;  dreams  that  New  York  mk>ht  decide  to  cut  herself  off  from  the 
rest  of  the  country  and  become  a  free  city.  These  hopes  and  dreams  vanished  in  a 
day.  The  reply  to  the  question  '  How  will  New  York  go  ?'  was  given  with  a  hearti 
ness  and  energy  altogether  worthy  of  her."  If  any  other  answer  to  that  question 
was  needed,  it  was  given  again  the  next  day  with  the  same  unanimity  and  deter 
mination,  when  the  Seventh  New  York  Regiment  the  pet  of  th -i  city,  the  best 
representative  of  its  culture,  wealth,  business  energy,  noble  character,  marched 
down  the  same  Broadway,  through  just  as  great  a  crowd,  and  with  as  many  and 
sincere  expressions  of  devotion  to  the  government. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  141 

his  own  responsibility  had  purchased  knapsacks,  cartridges, 
boxes  and  bayonets  for  one  or  two  regiments,  but  the  State 
had  on  hand  only  1,020  United  States  muskets  of  the  latest 
pattern,  together  with  about  2,000  more  that  were  not  very 
serviceable.  Reluctant  to  send  any  of  his  troops  into  the 
field  with  such  imperfect  arms  as  these  last,  he  set  about 
procuring  better  from  any  and  every  quarter.  Finding  a 
lot  of  800  Sharp's  rifles,  manufactured  for  the  Egyptian 
government,  and  not  paid  for,  he  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
Catlin  advanced  the  money  and  bought  them.  In  connec 
tion  with  Governor  Andrew  he  sent  an  agent  to  Europe, 
where  a  few  thousand  muskets  of  poor  quality,  and  at  a 
high  price,  were  obtained.  It  was  only,  however,  as  they 
could  be  manufactured  here,  that  the  army  came  to  be  sup 
plied  with  such  as  were  satisfactory.  The  United  States 
armory  at  Springfield  came  to  turn  out  daily,  before  the  war 
was  over,  1,000  breech-loading  rifled  muskets  of  the  best 
pattern,  enough  to  arm  a  fresh  regiment  every  night.  The 
country,  however,  could  not  wait  for  this,  and  so  the  first 
troops  were  many  of  them  armed  with  Sharp's,  Maynard's 
and  Colt's  rifles,  the  best  of  any,  only  it  was  objectionable 
to  have  such  irregular  arms  in  use,  where  uniform  ammuni 
tion  was  so  necessary.  It  was  not  long  allowed  ;  only  the 
flank  companies  of  some  of  these  regiments  were  permitted 
to  retain  their  rifles,  which  sometimes  proved  greatly  to  their 
advantage.  Furthermore  everything  had  to  be  collected, 
much  of  it  manufactured,  and  even  the  soldiers'  uniforms 
were  got  up  in  hot  haste,  by  liberal  citizens  who  offered 
the  cloth,  and  patriotic  tailors  who  cut  it,  and  women 
equally  patriotic  and  generous  who  made  it  up  into  gar 
ments  From  Rockville  the  news  comes  that  their  "  com 
pany  will  leave  and  go  into  camp  in  a  day  or  two,  and  that 
all  the  cloth  has  been  purchased,  and  all  the  tailors  are 
cutting  it,  and  the  ladies  with  sewing  machines  and  needles 
are  making  up  the  uniforms.  "  "  The  ladies  of  New  Haven 


142  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

have  resolved  to  supply  all  deficiencies  in  uniforms,  and 
worked  by  scores  so  diligently,  that  within  ten  days  they 
have  finished  and  distributed  more  than  500  full  sets.  " 
At  Hartford,  the  committee  in  charge  of  such  supplies 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  "  two  hundred  pairs  of  panta 
loons,  "  and  say  they  need  "  one  hundred  and  fifty  more  ns 
soon  as  possible,  and  the  quartermaster  general  acknowl 
edges  the  receipt  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  shirts  made  by 
the  ladies  of  Hartford.  "  Such  business,  even  in  a  peace- 
loving  and  Christian  community,  was  deemed  a  "  work  of 
necessity  and  mercy, "  fit  for  the  Sabbath.  The  Monday 
paper  says  :  "  Yesterday,  all  the  churches  sang  the  patri 
otic  tune  '  America, '  the  ministers  preached  patriotic  ser 
mons,  while  one  hundred  and  fifty  ladies  worked  on  haver 
sacks  for  the  troops.  "  Some  kinds  of  equipments  were  so 
difficult  to  be  obtained  that  the  papers  contained  this 
advertisement :  "  There  is  such  a  scarcity  of  swords  and 
epaulets,  that  those  who  are  in  possession  of  such  articles 
are  requested  to  sell  or  loan  them  to  meet  the  pressing  exi 
gency.  "  But  everything  was  provided,  and  if  the  Con 
necticut  troops  did  not  reach  Washington  as  soon  as  some 
others,  they  were  more  fully  equipped  than  most  of  them. 
Indeed,  General  Scott's  exclamation  when  the  First  Con 
necticut  Volunteers  arrived,  was :  "  Thank  God,  here  is 
one  regiment  ready  for  the  field  ! " 

In  such  a  spirit  and  under  such  disadvantages  was  the 
work  of  furnishing  troops  to  the  general  government  car 
ried  on,  and  with  such  success.  Before  the  First  Regi 
ment  was  sent  forward,  two  more  were  ready  to  take  its 
place  if  needed,  for  the  first  three  were  only  allowed  to 
enlist  for  three  months.  After  that  the  government 
allowed  them  to  be  enlisted  for  three  years,  or  during  the 
war.  During  that  early  period  little  else  was  done  or 
thought  of  except  to  furnish  all  the  troops  that  might  be 
needed  to  put  down  secession  and  save  the  government. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  143 

So  general,  and  almost  universal  was  this  disposition,  that 
political  differences  and  party  feeling  were  well-nigh 
swallowed  up  in  the  general  patriotism.  Though  party 
lines  and  political  principles  were  not  distinctly  renounced 
any  more  than  by  Senator  Douglas  when  he  pledged  his 
support  to  President  Lincoln  in  putting  down  the  rebellion, 
there  were  many  "  war  Democrats "  and  a  number  of 
Democratic  papers  in  the  State,  who  sustained  the  Gov 
ernor  and  his  party  in  their  war  measures  as  earnestly  as  if 
it  were  their  own  party  that  had  adopted  them.  True, 
there  was  a  "  Peace  Party  "  at  first  that  threatened  trouble, 
and  there  were  a  few  indiscreet  politicians  and  papers  that 
made  utterances  which  were  little  less  than  treasonable. 
But  this  so  grossly  belied  the  position  and  sentiments  of 
the  people  at  large  that  it  could  not  be  long  kept  up.  The 
single  fact  that,  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  came  together, 
and  it  was  proposed  to  sanction  all  that  the  Governor  had 
done  to  raise  troops  for  the  war,  and  to  put  $2,000,000 
into  his  hands  with  which  to  raise  10,000  men,  no  oppo 
sition  whatever  was  made  to  it,  shows  how  patriotism 
had  risen  above  all  partisanship.  Ex-Governor  Seymour 
did  indeed  refuse  to  accept  command  of  one  of  the  regi 
ments  offered  him,  but  General  Doming  accepted  it, 
though  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  of  equal  prominence 
in  it.  So,  too,  General  Deming  declined  to  preside  at  the  first 
war  meeting  in  Hartford,  while  Mr.  James  E.  English,  who 
was  afterwards  Democratic  Governor  of  the  State,  addressed 
the  war  meeting  in  Nev  Haven,  saying  that,  "  all  party 
lines  were  to  be  obliterated,  and  all  Northeners  should  be 
Unionists,  heart  and  hand."  It  was  the  unanimity  of  this 
principle  and  sentiment,  as  well  as  the  fervor  of  such 
patriotism,  which  made  volunteering  so  brisk,  and  con 
tributions  to  the  equipment  of  troops  so  unstinted. 

These  were  stirring  times  in  Connecticut,  the  last  two 
weeks  in  April  which  followed  the  fall  of  Sumter,  and  not 


144  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

merely  in  her  activities,  but  in  her  anxieties  also.  The 
Massachusetts  Sixth  Regiment  had  just  passed  through  the 
State,  where  thousands  flocked  to  the  depots  in  the  night  to 
see  the  first  troops  going  to  the  war,  and  through  New 
York  city  to  awaken  unbounded  enthusiasm  there.  Then 
came  the  news  of  the  attack  upon  that  regiment  in  Balti 
more,  and  how  they  were  obliged  to  fight  their  way 
through  the  city.*  Then  the  railroad  bridges  in  Maryland 
were  burned,  and  all  communication  cut  off  from  Washing 
ton,  so  that  there  was  no  knowing  for  a  few  days  whether 
the  capital  had  not  been  taken  and  burned ;  nor  on  its 
part  what  was  being  done  at  the  North  for  its  relief.  In 
this  state  of  things  Governor  Buckingham  regarded  it  as 
absolutely  necessary  that  such  communication  should  be 
reopened,  and  was  the  first  to  find  that  the  capital  was 
safe,  though  threatened,  and  to  give  the  President  the 
joyful  intelligence  that  the  North  was  thoroughly  roused, 
and  would  soon  send  him  relief.  Monday  morning,  April 
22,  two  days  after  the  attack  upon  the  Massachusetts 
troops,  the  Governor  sent  his  son-in-law,  General  William 


*  The  Sixth  Regiment  of  the  Massachusetts  Militia  gained  its  distinction  by  the 
promptness  with  which  it  responded  to  the  first  call  for  troops,  and  its  good  disci 
pline  an  I  humane  conduct  under  the  provocations  of  the  mob  at  Baltimore.  The 
President's  call  was  issued  the  Monday  after  Sumter  fell,  the  governor's  followed 
the  same  afternoon,  and  Tuesday  morning  found  the  companies  from  the  neigh 
boring  towns  mustering  on  Boston  Common.  The  captain  of  one  of  them  sum 
moned  at  the  last  moment  to  fill  up  the  regiment,  did  not  receive  his  summons 
until  Wednesday  morning,  when  it  found  him  in  bed,  and  to  the  question,  "  When 
can  you  and  your  company  report  at  headquarters ': "  answered,  "  At  eleven  o'clock 
this  morning."  And  they  were  all  there  at  the  time,  a  thousand  strong,  and  the 
whole  regiment  were  armed  and  equipped  that  day,  and  left  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  It  was  at  midnight  or  soon  after  that  such  crowds  welcomed  them  at 
Springfield,  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  and  the  next  morning  that  New  York  was  so 
fired  by  their  patriotism  as  they  passed  through  the  city.  The  morning  after,  the 
morning .  f  that  fatal  Friday,  they  had  left  Philadelphia  before  daylight  fur  Baltimore, 
and  before  noon  were  fighting  their  way  through  that  infuriated  mob,  where  two  of 
their  number  were  shot  dead  and  thirty-six  more  were  wounded.  And  the  same 
afternoon  at  five  o'clock  they  reached  Washington,  to  be  welcomed  by  5,000  people, 
who  escorted  them  to  the  Capitol,  where  they  were  quartered  in  the  senate  chamber. 
As  an  indication  of  the  spirit  of  the  North,  r.o  wonder  it  .^ent  a  thrill  of  patriotism 
throughout  the  nation,  and  caused  a  chill  of  despondency  if  not  of  fear  to  the 
South,  that  the  capital  was  to  be  relieved  br fore  they  could  capture  it,  or  carry  out 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  145 

A.  Aiken,  with  instructions  to  reach  Washington  if  pos 
sible  with  official  dispatches,  and  bring  back  the  orders 
of  Government.  As  nothing  could  furnish  a  better  idea 
of  the  state  of  things  there,  and  of  the  helpless  and  de 
spondent  condition  of  the  government,  we  give  General 
Aiken's  account  of  the  matter — Finding  a  gentleman  in 
Philadelphia  undertaking  the  same  journey,  they  pushed  on 
together  until  they  reached  the  Susquehanna  river,  where 
communications  were  interrupted.  Here  they  found  that 
General  Butler  had  just  seized  steam  ferryboats,  and  taken 
his  own  Massachusetts  troops  and  the  New  York  Seventh 
Regiment  around  Baltimore  to  Annapolis.  Here  they 
crossed  over  in  an  old  flatboat  to  Havre  de  Grace  and 
hired  a  man  to  carry  them  in  his  wagon  to  the  city.  Spies 
and  traitors  were  plenty,  imprecating  curses  upon  all 
Yankees.  Here  the  narrative  goes  on  to  say  :— 

The  brilliantly  illuminated  streets  of  Baltimore  were  alive  with 
people,  some  in  uniform  and  generally  wearing  the  rebel  badge  upon 
their  coats.  On  arriving  at  a  hotel,  we  retired  almost  immediately  to 
our  rooms,  and  there  remained  till  morning.  What  I  saw  and  heard 
in  the  crowded  halls  convinced  me  that  no  avowed  Union  man  could 
be  safe  there  for  a  moment. 

some  of  the  other  important  parts  of  their  programme.  This  regiment  also  had  in 
other  respects  an  honorable  record,  for  it  re-enlisted  when  its  three-months'  term 
of  service  was  over,  and  served  faithfully  to  the  end  of  the  war.  And  when  Balti 
more  had  to  be  taken  possession  of  by  the  general  government  and  put  under 
martial  law,  though  this  was  a  part  of  the  force  stationed  there,  no  one  ever  heard 
of  any  relaxation  of  their  good  discipline,  nor  manifestation  of  resentment  toward 
a  community  by  whom  they  had  been  so  badly  treated.  The  truth  was  Maryland 
was  more  than  half  a  Secession  State,  and  Baltimore  had  an  irresolute  mayor,  a 
large  "  plug-ugly  "  element,  and  a  treasonable  city  marshal,  who  soon  joined  the 
Confederacy,  while  the  positions  taken  by  both  the  authorities  of  the  city  and  the 
State  had  been  simply  ridiculous  if  they  had  not  been  so  treasonable.  These  troops 
must  not  go  through  the  city,  and  they  must  not  land  in  the  State.  They  were  State 
troops  called  into  the  service  of  the  government,  and  if  a  State  asserts  its  right  to 
rob  the  government  of  its  ultimate  means  of  support  and  defence,  there  is  no  other 
way  to  deal  with  it  but  to  apply  martial  law.  This  is  what  General  Butler  fell  back 
upon  when  he  landed  at  Annapolis  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  governor  And 
this  was  the  position  Mr.  Lincoln  so  reluctantly  took  after  being  harassed  by  so 
many  Baltimore  and  Maryland  committees.  General  Butler  was  sent  with  some 
Massachusetts  troops,  and  among  them  a  detachment  of  the  same  regiment  that 
had  been  assaulted  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore,  to  encamp  upon  Federal  Hill,  where 
tney  had  the  city  completely  under  command. 


146  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Through  the  politeness  of  the  proprietor,  we  were  enabled  to  obtain 
passes,  signed  by  General  Winder,  and  countersigned  by  Marshall 
Kane,  both  bitter  rebels,  permitting  us  to  pass  out  of  the  city  limits. 
By  paying  $50  we  engaged  a  carriage  to  convey  us  to  Washington,  our 
number  having  been  increased  by  three.  We  might  not  have  been  so 
fortunate  about  the  passes  had  it  not  been  that  the  proprietor  was  a 
personal  friend  of  my  companion,  and  also  a  sympathizer  with  the 
distinguished  officials  wielding  temporary  power. 

The  travelers  stopped  to  bait  their  horses  half  way 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  this  furnished  an 
opportunity  to  a  lot  of  Secessionists  to  insult  and  threaten 
them.  The  narrative  then  proceeds  :— 

AVe  arrived  at  Washington  at  10  p.  M.  on  Wednesday  the  24th.  The 
unbroken  silence  of  its  hotels  and  apparent  desolation  of  its  streets, 
brought  vividly  to  mind  the  contrasting  scenes  of  the  evening  pre 
vious.  Half  a  dozen  persons  crowded  around  me  in  the  hall  to  ask 
questions  about  the  North,  and  I  then  realized  the  complete  isolation 
of  the  city.  I  hastened  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Scott  to  deliver 
a  dispatch.  It  was  11  o'clock  at  night.  I  found  the  general  attended 
only  by  two  members  of  his  personal  staff. 

After  reading  the  Governor's  paper,  he  rose,  and  said  excitedly: 
"Sir,  you  are  the  first  man  I  have  seen  with  a  written  dispatch  for 
three  days.  I  have  sent  out  men  every  day  to  get  intelligence  of  the 
Northern  troops.  Where  are  the  troops?"  His  excited  manner  and 
the  number  and  rapidity  of  the  questions  that  followed,  impressed 
me  fully  with  the  critical  nature  of  the  situation. 

I  afterwards  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Cameron,  secretary  of  war, 
who  at  once  admitted  me  to  an  audience  in  his  bedchamber.  His 
inquiries  were  of  the  same  nature,  and  conveyed  a  sense  of  great  inse 
curity.  The  situation  was  indeed  alarming.  The  district  was  sur 
rounded  by  hostile  territory,  the  spirit  of  rebellion  being  during  these 
few  days  as  rampant  in  Maryland  as  in  Virginia  or  South  Carolina.  A 
friend  in  the  treasury  department  advised  very  strongly  against  my 
return  by  the  same  route,  as  my  arrival  was  already  marked,  and  the 
general  nature  of  my  business  suspected  by  the  rebel  spies  that  lurked 
in  every  street,  hotel  and  department. 

At  10  o'clock  next  morning,  I  called  upon  the  President,  and  saw 
him  for  the  first  time  in  my  life;  an  interview  I  can  never  forget.  No 
office  seekers  were  besieging  his  presence  that  day.  I  met  no  delay. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  alone,  seated  in  his  business  room  up  stairs,  looking 
towards  Arlington  Heights  through  a  wide-open  window.  Against 
the  casement  stood  a  very  long  spyglass  or  telescope,  which  he  had 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  1 47 

obviously  just  been  using.  I  gave  him  all  the  information  I  could  from 
what  I  had  seen  and  heard  on  my  journey.  He  seemed  depressed  be 
yond  measure,  as  he  asked  slowly  and  with  marked  emphasis:  "  What 
is  the  North  about?  Do  they  know  our  condition?"  "No,"  lanswered, 
"  they  certainly  did  not  when  I  left  "  He  spoke  of  the  non-arrival  of 
the  troops  under  General  Butler,  and  of  having  had  no  intelligence 
from  him  for  two  or  three  days.  Having  delivered  my  dispatch  and 
the  Governor's  words  of  encouragement,  and  having  enjoyed  an 
interview  protracted  by  the  desire  of  the  President  beyond  ordinary 
length,  I  took  leave. 

The  sense  of  the  insecurity  of  the  capital,  and  of  that  good  man's  life, 
has  never  again  come  over  my  spirit  with  such  weight  as  then.  From 
the  President's  words  and  looks  I  saw  what  a  moment  of  golden  oppor 
tunity  that  was  to  the  conspirators.  Only  a  handful  of  regulars,  a 
regiment  of  volunteers,  and  Clay's  band  of  brave  men — these  were  all 
the  loyal  forces  at  hand.  Foes  were  without,  and  their  descent  from 
Arlington  over  Long  Bridge  was  the  probability  of  any  moment. 
Foes  were  within  equally  bitter,  jostling  the  friends  of  the  govern 
ment  on  every  pavement  and  in  every  office.  Mutual  confidence 
seemed  dead  and  suspicion  had  usurped  its  place. 

I  have  referred  to  the  entire  separation  of  the  city  from  the  North. 
In  no  one  of  many  ways  was  it  brought  home  more  practically  to  my 
mind  than  in  this:  the  funds  in  my  possession  were  in  New  York  city 
bank  notes,  yet  their  value  had  suddenly  departed.  They  were  worth 
their  weight  in  paper,  no  more.  During  the  interview  with  the 
President  my  financial  dilemma  was  referred  to.  I  remarked  that  I 
hadn't  a  cent,  though  my  pocket  was  full.  He  instantly  understood 
me,  and  kindly  put  me  in  possession  of  such  an  amount  of  specie  as  I 
desired.  Reimbursement  was  made  on  my  return,  with  many  thanks. 

Proceeding  to  the  State  Department  I  was  informed  that  the  ex 
pected  troops  were  heard  from  and  would  soon  be  in  the  city.  A 
white  flag  on  the  Capitol  was  to  be  the  signal  of  their  arrival.  A  few 
minutes  afterwards  it  was  run  up,  and  such  a  stampede  of  humanity, 
loyal  and  rebel,  as  was  witnessed  at  that  hour  toward  the  Baltimore 
depot,  can  be  appreciated  only  by  one,  who  like  myself  took  part  in 
it.  One  glance  at  the  grey  jackets  of  the  New  York  Seventh  restored 
hope  and  confidence.  On  Thursday  the  25th,  I  started  northward 
with  a  small  party  thither  bound.  We  traveled  on  an  unfrequented 
route  and  crossed  the  Pennsylvania  line  southeast  of  Gettysburg, 
once  more  in  the  region  of  telegraphs,  railroads  and  loyalty.  Only  on 
the  Capitol  at  Washington  had  I  seen  the  stars  and  stripes  since 
entering  Maryland. 

The  successful  accomplishment  of  my  journey  was  to  me  a  matter 
of  more  than  ordinary  satisfaction,  for  I  believe  there  has  been  no 
hour  since,  when  messages  of  sympathy,  encouragement  and  aid  from 


148  WILLIAM    A.    1  KICKING  HAM. 

the  loyal  Governor  of  a  loyal  State  were  more  truly  needed,  or  more 
effective  in  the  mind  of  our  late  President,  than  those  I  had  the 
honor  to  deliver.*—"  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  p.  831). 

Such  a  state  of  things  shows  how  helpless  and  almost 
hopeless  the  condition  of  the  general  government  had 
become  at  this  time.  To  say  that  the  authorities  at  Wash 
ington  were  "  demoralized,"  using  the  term  in  its  military 
sense,  as  when  an  army  is  described  as  having  lost  its  dis 
cipline  and  courage,  would  only  describe  them  properly,  f 

*  A  mong  the  numb  r  of  those  all  over  the  State  who  he'd  their  services  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Governor,  and  whose  services  were  so  valuable,  and  to  a  large 
extent  gratuitously  furnished,  -was  Colonel  George  L.  Peikins  of  Norwich,  who 
lived  to  be  the  venerable  and  honored  centenarian  of  the  city.  He  was  sent  to 
Washington  immediately  afttr  C'olonel  Aiken,  and  left  Washington  for  Baltimore 
on  the  first  train  that  ran  over  the  reconstructed  road,  after  it  had  been 
broken  up  by  the  rebels.  General  Butler  with  his  troops,  and  the  New  York 
Seventh  Regiment,  had  pushed  around  Baltimore,  by  the  way  of  Annapolis,  to  the 
Relay  House,  in  the  rear  of  the  city,  and  from  that  j  oint  had  rebuilt  the  road  in  an 
incredibly  short  time,  and  under  untold  difficulties.  The  torn-up  rails  must  be 
found  and  relaid,  if  they  had  to  be  fished  up  from  the  bottom  of  some  pond.  It 
was  one  of  the  relieving  pleasantries  of  the  New  England  troops  to  see  how  well 
that  genteel  city  regiment  did  it.  But  that  was  not  the  worst  of  it,  for  in  that  hos 
tile  region  and  embittered  state  of  the  people,  no  train  could  be  run  over  the  road 
except  at  the  risk  of  every  life  on  board.  Colonel  Perkins  returned  by  the  first 
train  that  left  ths  capital.  And  he  and  his  friends  stood  over  the  engineer  with 
pistols,  prepared  to  shoot  him  down  if  he  betrayed  them.  General  Cass,  that 
sturdy  and  honest  old  man,  who  had  recently  resigned  his  seat  in  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  rather  than  risk  that  danger,  walked  by  night  the  whole  distance  from 
Washington  to  the  Relay  House,  some  twenty  miles.  Colonel  Perkins,  with  his 
commanding  presence,  calm  courage  and  tact  in  any  emergency,  was  well  fitted 
for  such  a  mission,  and  likely  to  succeed  in  it  if  it  was  not  utterly  desperate. 

t  That  this  is  no  overstatement  of  the  matter  appears  not  only  from  General 
Aiken's  impressions,  derived  from  his  interview  with  the  President,  but  from  the 
later  and  most  carefully  prepared  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  Messrs.  Nicolay  &  Hay : 
"Lincoln,  by  nature  and  habit  so  calm,  so  equable,  so  undemonstrative,  neverthe 
less  passed  this  period  of  interrupted  communication  and  isolation  from  the  North 
in  a  state  of  nervous  tension  which  put  all  his  great  powrers  of  mental  and  physical 
endurance  to  their  severest  trial.  General  Scott's  reports,  though  invariably 
•expressing  his  confidence  in  successful  defense,  frankly  admitted  the  evident 
danger,  and  the  President,  with  his  acuteness  of  observation  and  his  rapidity  and 
Correctness  of  inference,  lost  no  single  one  of  the  external  indications  of  doubt 
and  apprehension.  Day  after  day  prediction  failed  and  hope  was  deferred  ;  troops 
did  not  come,  ships  did  not  arrive,  railroads  remained  broken,  messengers  failed 
to  reach  their  destination.  That  one  of  the  successors  of  Washington  should  find 
himself  even  in  this  degree  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  was  personally  humiliating, 
but  that  the  majesty  of  a  great  nation  should  be  thus  insulted  and  its  visible  sym 
bols  of  authority  be  placed  in  jeopardy ;  above  all,  that  the  hitherto  glorious 
example  of  the  Republic  to  other  nations  should  stand  in  this  peril  of  surprise  and 
possible  sudden  collapse,  the  Constitution  be  scoffed  and  jeered,  and  human  free- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  149 

General  Scott  had  lost  control  of  even  the  little  army  that 
was  left  to  him.  The  secretary  of  the  navy  hardly  knew 
where  to  look  for  a  ship  of  war  whose  commander  he  could 
trust.  President  Lincoln,  sweeping  the  heights  of  George 
town  with  his  glass,  liable  at  any  moment  to  see  cannon 
planted  there  to  play  upon  the  White  House  and  demolish 
the  city,  was  not  lacking  in  patient  courage,  but  he  was 
about  giving  up  all  hope.  But  for  the  loyal  governors  and 
the  patriotic  North  behind  them,  their  fears  had  been  fully 
realized.  Still,  that  confidence  was  not  misplaced,  for 
every  one,  governors  and  States,  each  without  waiting  for 
the  other,  was  vying  to  see  who  could  furnish  swiftest  and 
most  abundant  relief.  That  assault  on  Sumter,  that  attack 
upon  Federal  troops  at  Baltimore,  that  refusal  of  the  au 
thorities  of  Maryland  to  let  government  troops  cross  her 
borders  for  the  relief  of  the  national  capitol,  that  attempt 
of  Virginia  to  capture  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  navy  yard  at 
Norfolk,  compelling  their  destruction,  had  set  the  North 
ablaze  with  more  lurid  flames  and  a  more  sweeping  confla 
gration,  than  those  government  works,  and  ships  of  war,  and 
material  for  shipbuilding  and  ammunition — awful  as  those 
fires  are  said  to  have  been — could  fairly  typify.  For  what 
was  going  on  in  Connecticut,  was  going  on  everywhere. 
Men  were  enlisting  faster  than  they  could  be  equipped  and 
mustered  in.  Money  was  contributed  more  liberally  than 
it  could  be  used  for  war  purposes.  More  regiments  wcre- 


dom  become  once  more  a  by-word  and  reproach  ;  this  must  have  begot  in  him  ai> 
anxiety  approaching  torture.  In  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen  and  of  the  world  he- 
was  holding  the  scales  of  national  destiny ;  he  alone  knew  that  for  the  moment 
the  forces  which  made  the  beam  vibrate  with  such  uncertainty,  were  beyond  his 
control.  In  others'  society  he  gave  no  sign  of  these  inner  emotions.  But  once, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  (the  day  before  General  Aiken  arrived  with  news  from 
the  North),  the  business  of  the  day  being  over,  the  executive  office  deserted,  after 
walking  the  floor  alone  in  silent  thought  for  half  an  hour,  he  stopped  and  gazed 
long  and  wistfully  out  of  the  window  down  the  Potomac  in  the  direction  of  the 
expected  ships,  and,  unconscious  of  any  presence  in  the  room,  at  length  broke  out 
with  irrepressible  anguish  in  the  repeated  exclamation  :  '  Why  don't  they  come ! 
why  don't  they  come!'" — ["Abraham  Lincoln— A  History" — Cfittun,,  April. 
p.  920. 


150  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

offered  to  the  government  and  urged  upon  its  acceptance, 
than  the  war  department  was  willing  to  receive. 

Those  signal  fires  once  lighted  up  along  the  hills  of  Scot 
land  to  summon  the  clans  against  invasion,  were  slow  and  dull 
compared  with  the  electric  flash  that  set  whole  cities  ablaze 
with  light  in  an  instant,  and  thrilled  the  whole  North  with 
patriotism  and  summoned  to  the  aid  of  the  government 
more  defenders  than  she  could  use.  Men  of  all  ranks  and 
conditions  and  nationalities  volunteered  for  the  service. 
They  willingly  entered  the  ranks  when  they  were  not  needed 
as  officers.  Fathers  sent  their  sons  when  they  were  too  old 
to  go  themselves,  and  mothers,  when  they  gave  up  a  boy  to 
such  a  necessary  and  noble  service,  sometimes  wished  they 
had  more  to  give.  Sunday-school  teachers  and  the  young 
men  in  their  classes  would  enlist  together,  and  it  was  not 
uncommon  to  find  a  minister  and  his  parishioners  being 
drilled  together  in  the  same  company.  The  truth  is,  there 
never  was  such  an  uprising  of  the  people,  one  so  uni 
versal,  so  in  earnest,  so  intelligent  as  to  the  issues  involved, 
or  with  such  a  conscientious  determination  that  the  inter 
ests  at  stake  should  not  suffer.  Then  it  was  on  the  part  of 
a  people  who  had  no  knowledge  of  war  and  no  taste  for 
fighting,  but  who  did  know  that  they  had  a  good  govern 
ment  and  that  for  three-quarters  of  a  century  they  had 
enjoyed  under  it  more  civil  and  religious  freedom  than  any 
other  people  had  ever  enjoyed,  and  that  the  world  ought 
not  to  lose  such  a  successful  experiment  in  self-government. 
They  remembered  at  what  cost  this  government  and  society 
had  been  founded.  And  in  the  spirit  of  the  old  Puritans 
this  Puritan  commonwealth,  with  its  Puritan  Governor, 
whom  the  people  had  selected  for  their  leader,  met  this 
crisis  of  a  terrible  war. 

That  was  a  remarkable  little  book  published  in  France 
at  the  very  outbreak  of  our  war,  entitled  "The  Upris 
ing  of  a  Great  People."  Its  understanding  of  the  real 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  151 

nature  of  the  conflict,  and  its  almost  prophetic  foresight  of 
the  final  result,  based  especially  upon  moral  causes,  were 
its  wonderful  characteristics.     It  was  written  by  Count  de 
Gasparin,   once   one   of   Louis    Philippe's   cabinet,  and   a 
member  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  who  was  compelled  to 
leave  France  when  Napoleon   III  came  into  power,  and 
take  up  his  residence  in  Switzerland,  whence  he  could  look 
out   upon   the   world   and   watch   the    course    of   nations. 
Statesman  as  he  was,  he  was  quick  to  discern  the  signifi 
cance  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  and  saw  in  it  the  ultimate 
if  not  speedy  overthrow  of  slavery.     As  a  philosopher,  too, 
he  understood  the  power   of   righteousness  and  freedom 
when  matched  against  oppression  and  wrong,  and  where 
there  was   so   much    liberty    of  thought   and  speech  and 
action  4as  in  this  country,  he  could  not  doubt  which  would 
conquer.     But   more   than    all,   as     a   Christian   he    had 
weighed  the  moral  forces  of  the  universe,  and  calculated 
"  the  power  without  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteous 
ness,"    and   estimated   the  course  of   Providence,  and  the 
favor  and  power  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and  the  influence  of 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  upon  the  earth,  with  reference  to 
the  final  result.     And  while  he  makes  no  pretension  to 
read  the  future,  he  does  attempt  to  make  "  a  distinction  be 
tween  what  may  happen  and  what  must  endure."     He  sees 
in   Mr.    Lincoln's   election    "emancipation   by   no    means 
decreed ;  it  will  not  be  for  a  long  time  perhaps,  yet  the 
principle  of  emancipation  is  established,  irrevocably  estab 
lished  in  the  sight  of  all."     "  It  may  be  that  this  struggle 
will  end  in  the  adoption  of  some  blamable  compromise,  but 
whatever  may  be  inscribed  in  it,  the  election  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  has  just  written  in  the  margin  a  note  that  will  annul 
the  text.     The  time  for  certain  concessions  is  past,  and  the 
South  has  no  more  doubts  of  it  than  the  North.     It  may  be 
that  the   slave   States  will  succeed  iu  founding  their  de 
plorable  confederacy,  but  it  is  impossible  that  they  should 


152  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM 

succeed  in  making  it  live;  they  will  perceive  that  it  is 
easier  to  adopt  a  compact  or  to  elect  a  president  than  to 
create  in  truth,  and  in  the  face  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
the  nationality  of  slavery.  I  have  therefore  the  right  to 
affirm  that  whatever  may  be  the  appearances  and  incidents 
of  the  moment,  one  fact  has  been  accomplished  and  will 
subsist:  the  United  States  were  perishing  and  are 
saved."  And  while  he  accepts  the  testimony  of  his 
countryman,  M.  de  Tocqueville,  who  had  written  so  justly 
of  our  democracy,  that  "America  is  the  place  of  all  others 
where  the  Christian  religion  has  preserved  the  most  power 
over  souls,"  he  cannot  admit  with  him  that  the  whites  and 
the  blacks  can  never  live  together  free,  without  the  one 
oppressing  the  other,  or  the  other  being  exterminated.  He 
expects  that  the  Gospel  will  solve  even  this  "  problem  of 
the  coexistence  of  races,"  as  it  has  already  done  in  some 
of  the  West  India  Islands.  "  I  hope  that  the  Gospel,  ac 
customed  to  work  miracles,  will  also  work  this."  "  This 
power  is  the  one  to  be  found  at  the  base  of  all  lasting 
reforms.  In  that  country  where  the  idea  of  authority  has 
little  force,  there  is  one  authority,  that  of  the  Bible,  before 
which  the  majority  bow,  and  which  is  of  the  more  impor 
tance,  inasmuch  as  it  alone  commands  respect  and  obedi 
ence."  u  Thanks  to  the  Gospel,  it  is  upon  this  I  fall  back  to 
solve  the  problem  of  the  coexistence  of  races." 

Then  like  a  Hebrew  prophet,  he  leads  us  and  our  friends 
abroad,  to  expect  a  long  and  desperate  struggle,  but  assures 
us  of  Divine  protection  and  ultimate  victory  :  "  Let  Mr.  Lin 
coln  assure  himself,  and  let  the  European  adversaries  of 
slavery  remember  as  well,  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  fight, 
and  to  persist  in  fighting.'*  "  Never  was  a  more  obstinate  and 
more  colossal  strife  commenced  on  earth."  "  But  he  whom 
God  guards,  is  well  guarded."  "It  is  a  fixed  fact  that  the 
Nineteenth  Century  will  see  the  end  of  slavery  in  all  its- 
forms,  and  woe  to  him  who  opposes  the  inarch  of  such 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  153 

a  progress!"  The  writer  then  goes  on  to  say:  "If  you 
wish  to  know  what  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Lincoln  will  be 
in  the  end,  see  in  what  manner  and  under  what  auspices  it 
was  inaugurated.  Listen  to  the  words  that  fell  from  the  lips 
of  the  new  President  as  he  quitted  his  native  town  :  '  The 
task  that  devolves  upon  me  is  greater  perhaps  than  that 
which  devolved  on  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Wash 
ington.  I  hope  that  you,  my  friends,  will  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  assistance  from  on  high,  without  which  1  can 
not  succeed,  but  writh  which  success  is  certain.' v 

At  the  end,  De  Gasparin  shouts  to  us  from  the  heights  of 
Switzerland,  across  the  ocean,  in  words  that  embody  the 
truest  statesmanship,  and  the  sublimest  faith  in  a  Divine 
government  as  administered  over  this  world  in  the  interest 
of  righteousness  :  "  Courage,  Mr.  Lincoln  !  The  friends  of 
freedom  and  of  America  are  with  you.  Courage !  You 
hold  in  your  hands  the  destinies  of  a  great  principle  and  a 
great  people.  Courage  !  Your  role,  as  you  have  said,  may 
be  inferior  to  no  other,  not  even  to  that  of  Washington. 
To  raise  up  the  United  States  will  not  be  less  glorious  than 
to  have  founded  them."  Pie  saw  clearer  from  a  distance 
than  many  of  us  could  here,  but  we  had  faith,  if  sight  were 
clouded,  and  the  event  has  justified  all  who  refused  to  be 
lieve,  that  a  free  people  would  give  up  the  work  they  had 
undertaken,  and  so  far  perfected,  until  it  should  be  fully 
accomplished. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  SESSION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE,  1861. 

The  Outbreak  of  the  War— Governor  Buckingham's  Prompt  and 
Vigorous  Support  of  the  Government — His  Pledge  that  no  State 
Should  Furnish  More  or  Better  Troops — His  Correspondence 
with  the  War  Department,  and  Sympathy  with  Their  Embar 
rassments—His  Remarkable  Letter  to  the  President  and  Recom 
mendations  in  Regard  to  the  Extra  Session  of  Congress  Just 
Called— His  Just  Estimate  of  the  Conflict  and  Counsel  to  Make 
Greater  Preparations  for  it — He  Binds  the  Destinies  of  the  State 
to  Those  of  the  General  Government,  and  Pledges  all  Her  Re 
sources  to  Sustain  the  Latter — The  President's  Call  for  More 
Troops  Based  on  the  Application  of  the  Loyal  Governors— And 
he  Gets  Them — The  Governor  Recommends  that  the  State  Loan 
its  Credit  to  the  General  Government,  Which  is  Done  to  the 
Extent  of  Two  Million  of  Dollars — Extra  Session  of  Congress, 
July  4,  1861— Battle  of  Bull  Run. 

The  election  of  state  officers  and  members  of  the  Legisla 
ture  took  place  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  and  the  Legis 
lature  was  convened,  and  the  Governor  inaugurated,  the  first 
Wednesday  in  May.  The  Governor  in  his  message  treated 
as  briefly  as  possible  of  state  affairs,  but  dwelt  at  length 
upon  the  peril  threatening  the  nation,  and  the  duties  of  the 
state  in  such  an  emergency.  This  part  of  the  message  is 
as  follows  : 

"  When  the  President  of  the  United  States  made  requisitions  for 
troops  to  suppress  combinations  against  laws,  the  Executive  found 
himself  without  legal  authority  to  obey  the  requisition.  We  had  no 
enrollment  as  required  by  the  laws  of  the  general  government,  and 
the  state  had  neglected  to  point  out  the  mode  of  designating  our  quota 
of  troops.  Under  these  circumstances  no  alternative  was  left  but  to 
convene  the  General  Assembly,  or  to  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  155 

people  for  volunteers.    The  former  course  would  have  involved  so 
much  delay  that  I  had  no  hesitation  in  adopting  the  latter. 

"The  threatened  seizure  of  the  city  of  Washington  by  men  organ 
ized  in  armed  rebellion;  the  authoritative  announcement  that  the 
President  of  the  revolted  states  was  about  to  issue  letters  of  marque 
against  the  citizens  of  loyal  states;  and  the  infuriated  and  murderous 
attack  upon  Massachusetts  troops  while  passing  through  the  city  of 
Baltimore  to  the  defence  of  the  national  capital,  created  an  emer 
gency  which  evidently  called  for  prompt  and  energetic  action.  I 
therefore  at  once  issued  a  call  for  a  larger  number  of  troops  than  was 
named  in  the  requisition  of  the  President.  The  response  given  from 
every  section  of  the  state,  of  offers  of  men  as  well  as  of  money,  showed 
that  the  fires  of  true  patriotism  were  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  that  they  were  fully  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  impending 
danger  and  determined  to  defend  their  liberties  at  every  cost  or  at 
any  hazard. 

"I  have  already  accepted  the  services  of  forty  companies,  am  organ 
izing  them  into  regiments,  appointing  their  regimental  officers,  and 
ordering  the  purchase  of  whatever  appears  to  be  requisite  to  guard 
our  sons  from  hardships  incidental  to  the  life  of  a  soldier,  and  to 
render  them  efficient  in  the  service  of  their  country.  They  were  with 
out  uniforms  and  camp  equipage,  for  which  I  have  incurred  large 
responsiblities.  In  doing  this,  I  have  received  the  hearty  co-opera 
tion  of  our  citizens,  including  ladies,  who  have  labored  with  patriotic 
zeal  to  make  clothing  for  the  troops  and  to  supply  them  with  other 
necessaries. 

"While  communication  with  the  national  capital  was  interrupted,  I 
despatched  special  messengers  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War, 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  information  respecting  the  conditions  of  our 
troops,  offering  the  services  of  the  volunteers,  as  well  as  to  receive 
such  directions  as  were  needful  for  efficient  co-operation  with  the 
government. 

"I  have  given  orders  for  the  troops  to  be  in  readiness  to  move,  but 
have  waited  for  instructions  from  the  War  Department  before  direct 
ing  their  march.  It  is  manifestly  far  better  for  the  cause  that  our 
troops  remain  as  they  are  until  their  services  are  required  at  some 
point  where  they  will  occupy  their  true  position  in  the  general  plan, 
rather  than  move  without  a  definite  object,  when  by  so  doing  they 
will  be  in  danger  of  embarrassing  the  government,  and  may  fail  of 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  conflict.  Recent  information  from  the 
War  Department  justifies  this  position. 

"I  ask  your  early  attention  to  the  course  which  I  have  pursued 
during  this  emergency,  believing  that  any  right  or  necessary  act  will 
receive  your  sanction." 


156  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

This  matter  certainly  received  the  "  early  attention  "  of 
the  Legislature,  for  while  their  attention  was  called  to  it  on 
the  first  day  of  their  session,  on  the  third  day  the  subject 
had  heen  referred  to  a  committee,  a  bill  perfected,  reported,, 
and  unanimously  adopted,  not  only  approving  of  the  course 
pursued  by  the  Governor,  biiu  putting  $2,000,000  at  his  dis 
posal  for  the  purpose  of  raising  troops,  and  authorizing  him 
to  enlist  10,000  men.     This  was  all  prompt  work.     To  have 
raised  forty  companies  in  fifteen  days,  when  only  ten  were- 
called   for   from    the   state,  and   to  have    collected    funds 
enough  from  voluntary  contributions  and  the  appropriations 
of  towns    to  have   them  in   camp,  well-nigh    armed   and 
eqiupped,  and  under  drill,  awaiting  the  call  of  the  general 
government — a  new  business  for  New  England  people  to  be- 
engaged  in  ;  and  to  have  done  it  so  harmoniously,  where 
party  lines  were  not  effaced  nor  party  politics  extinct— 
was  a  remarkable  achievement.     The  explanation  is,  that 
a  people  unused  to  war  and  devoted  to  peaceful  pursuits, 
were  compelled  to  fight  if  they  would  save  their  government 
and  liberties,  in  which  they  had  been  so  blessed,  and  without 
which  there  would  be  little  left  of  public  value.     The  ruin 
which  threatened  them  was  a  common  one,  which  must  be 
averted  before  they  could  consult  their  political  differences. 
and  preferences.     When  a  town  is  burning  up,  neighborhood 
quarrels  are  forgotten.     The  leading  Democrats  of  Con 
necticut,  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  some  other  states,  had 
become  "  War  Democrats,"  and  were  co-operating  cordially 
and  vigorously  with  their  political  opponents  in  maintaining 
the  government  and  the  Union.     On  the  other  hand,  the 
Governor  and  his  party  meant  to  be  as  fair  and  conciliatory 
toward  them  as  possible.     Several  of  them  had  been  ap 
pointed  by  the  Governor  delegates  to  the  late  Peace  Conven 
tion  at  Washington.     They  were  offered  commissions  in  the 
regiments,  especially  when  they  had  any  peculiar  qualifica 
tions,  or  experience  in  military  affairs,  like   ex-Governor 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  157 

•Seymour,  who  had  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  but  declined 
the  command  of  a  regiment,  which  Colonel  Henry  C.  Dem- 
ming  subsequently  accepted  and  performed  honorable  ser 
vice  at  New  Orleans,  after  having  been  a  leading  and  useful 
member  of  the  then  Legislature.  The  state  of  mutual  con 
sideration  and  co-operation  in  that  body  is  well  exhibited  in 
its  action  upon  the  death  of  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
which  occurred  during  its  session.  The  Republican  Speaker 
of  the  House,  Hon.  Augustus  Brandegee,  announced  the 
death  of  Senator  Douglas,  and  paying  him  a  just  tribute  of 
respect,  declared  "  the  loss  of  such  a  man,  at  such  a  crisis, 
to  be  an  unspeakable  calamity."  To  this  Colonel  Demming 
responded  in  a  set  of  resolutions  and  a  glowing  tribute  of  his 
own  to  the  great  Democratic  leader,  ending  as  follows:  "  I 
•cannot  close,  Mr.  Speaker,  without  expressing  the  thanks  of 
my  mourning  comrades  and  myself  for  the  generous  and 
magnanimous  manner  in  which  you  have  initiated  these 
solemnities.  Long  and  late  may  it  be,  sir,  in  these  days 
when  the  mighty  are  falling,  pillars  of  state  tottering  on 
their  base,  the  temple  of  liberty  almost  crumbling  in  the 
<lust,  long  may  it  be,  before  your  banner  is  dropped  and  the 
coronach  wailed  over  any  chieftain  of  your  clan.  Long  may 
it  be  ere  we  are  called  upon  to  imitate  your  spirit,  and 
reciprocate  your  kindness  on  the  present  occasion." 

There  were,  to  be  sure,  at  this  time  indiscreet  and  dis 
loyal  utterances  from  individuals  and  the  press,  and  the 
Governor  had  felt  obliged  to  call  attention  to  the  proper 
limits  of  individual  opinion  and  disloyal  and  dangerous 
speech,  while  two  years  later,  in  the  most  discouraging 
period  of  the  war,  there  came  to  be  more  of  it,  and  more 
efficient  means  had  to  be  taken  to  check  the  mischiefs  of  it. 
But  in  this  early  stage  of  the  war  there  was  surprising 
harmony  in  the  Legislature  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  state  in  raising  troops  and  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
general  government.  That  first  act  of  the  Legislature, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

against  which  not  a  single  vote  was  cast  in  either  house, 
was  the  noblest  tribute  that  could  be  paid  to  the  patriotism 
of  the  state,  and  both  parties  are  entitled  to  their  full  share 
of  it.  As  was  said  by  the  Hartford  "  Courant "  when  the 
bill  was  adopted,  and  seemed  to  express  the  general  senti 
ment  of  the  state : 

"  This  bill  authorizes  the  enlistment  of  10,000  men  liable  at  all  times 
to  be  turned  over  to  the  service  of  the  United  States  on  the  order  of 
the  government,  fixes  the  mode  and  term  of  their  payment,  legalizes- 
appropriations  from  towns  and  cities,  and  appropriates  $2,000,000  to 
their  support.  It  passed  the  Legislature  without  a  dissenting  vote. 
In  the  house,  Messrs.  Burrall  of  Salsbury,  Demming  of  Hartford  and 
Gallagher  of  New  Haven  spoke  in  favor  of  it  on  the  Democratic  side, 
while  Messrs.  Carpenter  of  Killingly,  Wooster  of  Derby  and  Thomp 
son  of  Suffield  made  explanatory  and  patriotic  speeches  in  its  favor. 
The  bill  reposes  much  confidence  in  the  Governor,  and  relieves  from 
heavy  responsibilities  incurred  without  express  law,  but  from  the  best 
of  motives.  It  indicates  respect  for  the  man,  and  is  a  practical  com 
pliment  which  a  Connecticut  Legislature  rarely  pays.  The  whole  bill 
is  a  departure  from  ordinary  policy,  warranted  only  by  the  solemn 
exigency  of  the  occasion.  It  indicates  unmistakably  that  Connecticut 
is  ready  to  do  her  utmost  to  uphold  the  government  and  preserve  the 
Union." 

No  wonder  the  Governor  wrote  at  once  to  the  President, 
informing  him  of  the  action  of  the  state,  and  of  the  determi 
nation  of  her  citizens  to  fulfill  the  pledges  he  had  made  to 
the  government  in  their  behalf : 

(  "STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXKCUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
"I  HARTFORD,  May  3,  1861. 

"  DEAR  SIR:  The  General  Assembly  of  the  state  has  placed  $2,000,- 
000  at  my  disposal  for  the  purpose  of  organizing,  equipping  and  arm 
ing  the  militia  of  the  state,  and  for  mustering  them  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States.  Allow  me  to  say  that  this  appropriation  was 
made  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  both  houses,  and  indicates  the  senti 
ment  of  the  citizens  of  this  state,  and  their  determination  in  the 
strongest  and  most  positive  position  which  you  will  assume  in  defence 
of  the  authority  of  the  government.  I  am,  dear  sir, 

"  Yours  with  high  consideration, 

"  WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
"To  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  159 

The  dangerous  condition  of  Baltimore  and  the  disloyal 
position  which  Maryland  seemed  likely  to  assume  led  the 
Governor  to  send  one  of  his  aides  soon  after  with  the  follow 
ing  communication  to  the  President : 

(  "  STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
(  HARTFORD,  May  13,  1861. 

"  DEAR  SIR:  The  disloyal  spirit  which  still  exists  in  Baltimore,  and 
the  unsettled  condition  of  public' sentiment  in  Maryland  respecting 
the  present  aspect  of  affairs,  leads  the  citizens  of  this  state  to  appre 
hend  increasing  danger  to  our  national  Union  unless  the  military 
force  be  augmented  so  as  to  take  complete  possession  of  Baltimore 
and  every  avenue  leading  to  that  city.  For  this  purpose,  as  well  as 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  power  of  the  government,  ena 
bling  it  to  overcome  every  enemy  to  its  rightful  authority,  this  state 
is  desirous  of  placing  a  still  larger  military  force  at  your  disposal.  I 
will  therefore  be  obliged  if  you  will  advise  me  through  the  bearer, 
Colonel  Aiken,  of  the  number  of  regiments  which  you  will  receive 
from  the  state  for  your  service,  or  of  any  other  way  in  which  we  can 
aid  the  general  government  in  this  trying  emergency. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  high  regard, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM." 

The  Governor's  correspondence  and  communications  with 
the  departments  at  Washington  throughout  all  this  period 
show  the  hesitation,  embarrassment  and  perplexity  which 
prevailed  there,  while  the  loyal  governors  and  states  were 
doing  their  utmost  to  relieve  them  and  encourage  them  to 
call  for  more  troops  and  larger  loans  from  the  people.  And 
perhaps  nothing  can  give  a  better  idea  of  the  state  of  things 
both  here  and  there  than  some  of  this  correspondence. 

It  was  impossible  at  the  beginning  for  anybody  to  believe 
that  such  a  war  was  upon  us  as  came.  The  South  never 
will  be  so  foolish  as  to  risk  all  upon  such  an  issue,  we 
said.  And  the  North  never  will  fight;  they  love  money  too 
well,  and  will  put  up  with  anything  rather  than  interrupt 
business ;  besides  they  are  a  mean,  craven-hearted  people, 
was  said  of  us.  And  when  the  war  was  begun,  we  said  : 


160  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Yes,  South  Carolina  has  been  rash  enough  to  defy  the  gen 
eral  government  and  resort  to  arms.  But  will  the  other 
slave  states  join  her  in  it,  particularly  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee,  who  have  such  love  for  the  Union,  or  even  Georgia, 
which  seems  so  reluctant  to  join  the  Confederacy  ?  Besides 
we  have  always  compromised  such  matters,  and  always 
must.  A  three-months'  war  is  all  we  need  to  provide  for, 
and  by  that  time  things  will  have  adjusted  themselves.  In 
the  meantime  the  Confederacy  had  been  organized,  Fort 
Sumter  had  been  taken,  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  Norfolk 
navy  yard  had  been  destroyed  to  save  them  from  capture, 
and  Virginia  was  preparing  to  capture  if  not  to  destroy 
Washington.  Then  there  was  neither  army  nor  navy  of 
any  consequence.  Both  had  been  intentionally  crippled 
and  scattered  beyond  reach  when  needed,  by  Southern 
influence  under  previous  administrations.  The  national 
treasury  had  also  been  depleted  by  those  in  charge  of  it, 
and  the  national  credit  so  impaired  that  a  government  loan 
could  only  be  effected,  if  at  all,  upon  usurious  terms.  Then 
troops,  if  raised  in  any  great  numbers,  could  not  be  armed, 
either  by  the  states  or  the  general  government.  Massa 
chusetts  had  indeed  two  regiments  ready  for  the  field  when 
the  first  call  came,  and  one  of  them  forced  its  way  through 
Baltimore,  when  Pennsylvania  troops  were  obliged  to  fall 
back  and  return  the  way  they  came  because  they  had  no 
arms  whatever.  And  how  could  the  general  government 
furnish  them  when  the  Northern  arsenals  had  been  stripped 
and  the  arms  sent  South,  where  they  had  been  secured  for 
the  Confederacy  which  had  also  occupied  many  of  our  great 
forts  and  arsenals,  thus  robbing  the  government  of  so  much 
of  its  heavy  artillery  and  most  important  munitions  of  war. 
No  wonder  there  was  embarrassment  and  more  or  less  con 
fusion  at  headquarters.  Besides,  there  seemed  to  be  three 
heads  to  the  army — the  President,  the  Secretary  and  Gen 
eral  Scott— and  arrangements  made  with  one  were  liable  to 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

be  set  aside  by  the  others.  The  general  government  cer 
tainly  was  slow  to  understand  either  the  spirit  or  the  re 
sources  of  the  Rebellion,  and  it  was  not  until  our  humili 
ating  defeat  at  Bull  Ran  that  the  Executive,  and  Congress 
and  the  whole  North  realized  the  greatness  of  their  under 
taking  and  rose  with  becoming  spirit  to  meet  the  emergency. 
When  Mr.  Lincoln  found  himself  encouraged  by  the  loyal 
states  to  take  his  more  positive  and  advanced  positions, 
and  that  there  was  to  be  no  lack  of  men  or  money  to 
maintain  the  government,  we  know  how  he  rose  to  the  level 
of  his  high  responsibility,  and  to  his  prudence  added  the 
rarest  statesmanship,  the  calmest  courage,  and  supreme 
devotion  to  the  truest  interest  of  the  nation. 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  when  the  state  sent  her  first  regiment  into  the  field. 
Though  not  forwarded  so  soon  as  others,  unlike  most  others 
it  was  completely  equipped  and  ready  for  actual  service. 
Its  condition  in  this  respect  was  what  called  forth  General 
Scott's  remark  upon  its  arrival :  "  Thank  God  !  here  is  one 
regiment  all  ready  for  the  field  !  "  And  for  a  while  after  it 
reached  Washington,  its  army  wagons  were  kept  busy  in 
hauling  supplies  for  the  troops  that  had  no  means  of  trans 
portation.  The  four  regiments  first  sent  into  the  field,  even 
when  it  was  so  difficult  to  obtain  arms,  equipments,  and 
supplies,  were  well  provided  with  them.  Each  regiment 
had  its  twenty-four  baggage  wagons  and  ambulances,  be 
sides  horses  for  most  of  the  line  officers.  One  regiment 
was  armed  with  Minie  rifle  muskets,  another  with  Sharps 
rifles,  and  the  other  two  with  the  regulation  musket,  except 
the  two  flank  companies,  which  had  the  Sharpe  rifle.  There 
were,  of  course,  objections  to  having  such  different  arms  iii 
the  service,  but  it  was  a  necessity  then.  The  wisdom  of 
arming  the  flank  companies  with  repeating  rifles  was  shown 
by  the  effective  use  of  them  on  more  than  one  occasion,  as 
in  the  repulse  of  the  Confederates  at  Plymouth,  N.  C. 


162  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

("STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
I  HARTFORD,  May  10,  1861. 

"SiR:  I  have  the  honor  of  informing  you  that  the  First  Regiment 
of  Connecticut  Volunteers,  commanded  by  Colonel  Daniel  Tyler, 
s.ailed  last  night  in  the  steamer  Bienville.  The  regiment  is  well  fur 
nished  with  tents,  baggage  wagons  and  camp  equipage,  and  is  ready 
for  encampment. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  high  consideration, 

"  Your  obedient  servant,  "  WM.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
"  HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR." 

The  next  letter  to  Secretary  Cameron  shows  that  some 
misunderstanding  had  occurred  in  regard  to  the  number 
and  character  of  troops  that  would  be  accepted  by  that  de 
partment.  The  Governor  was  anxious  to  send  three-years' 
men,  instead  of  those  enlisted  for  only  three  months,  con 
fident  that  they  would  be  needed  for  a  longer  period.  To 
obviate  the  difficulties  belonging  to  such  a  short  term  of 
service,  he  had  recommended  to  the  Legislature  and  re 
ceived  authority  to  go  on  organizing  three-months'  regi 
ments,  and  keeping  them  in  camp  under  drill,  to  be  put  into 
the  field,  one  after  another,  as  they  should  be  needed,  be 
sides  asking  permission  to  enlist  them  for  three  years,  or 
the  war.  He  also  had  the  opportunity,  as  he  supposed,  by 
the  generous  offer  of  Colonel  Samuel  Colt,  of  putting  into 
the  regular  army  a  regiment  of  accomplished  riflemen, 
armed  with  the  most  effective  modern  rifles,  though  the 
plan  failed  on  account  of  dissatisfaction  in  the  regiment 
with  the  terms  upon  which  only  it  could  be  effected.  Then, 
again,  he  could  always  raise  more  troops  than  would  be 
accepted,  and  refusal  to  accept  them  discouraged  volunteer 
ing.  Finally,  it  would  seem,  that  when  arrangements  were 
made  with  one  department  of  the  government,  they  were 
liable  to  be  understood  differently  by  another  department  or 
some  one  else  in  the  same  department,  and  hence  embarrass 
ment.  Not  that  there  was  necessarily  friction  and  bad  feel 
ing  engendered  by  it, but  it  shows  how  imperfectly  organized 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  163 

this  department  of  the  government  then  was,  and  the  per 
plexities  and  embarrassments  liable  to  grow  out  of  it. 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
HARTFORD,  May  18,  1861. 

HON.  SIMOK  CAMERON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR: 

DEAR  SIR: — Your  favor  of  the  16th  is  at  hand,  in  which  you  say, 
"  One  regiment  is  assigned  to  your  State,  in  addition  to  the  two  regi 
ments  of  three  months."  You  also  add:  "  Let  me  also  earnestly  recom 
mend  to  you,  therefore,  to  call  for  no  more  than  three  regiments,  of 
which  one  only  is  to  be  sent  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war,  and  if 
more  are  already  called  for,  to  reduce  the  number  by  discharge." 

Allow  me  to  say  that  this  communication  presents  the  subject  in 
a  different  light  from  that  in  which  I  had  been  acting.  The  position 
of  matters  stands  in  this  manner  with  me:  You  first  made  a  call  for 
one  regiment  for  three  months.  I  called  that,  and,  independently  of 
your  action,  organized  two  others  for  three  months,  and  tendered 
their  services  to  the  War  Department.  I  then  went  to  Washington 
and  stated  my  position,  first  to  General  Scott,  as  I  first  saw  him,  and 
he  said  the  department  could  use  the  three-months'  men  to  advantage, 
but  wanted  men  for  three  years.  I  told  him  that  if  he  would  accept 
the  two  regiments  already  organized,  I  would  organize  two  more  to 
take  their  places  when  their  time  should  expire.  He  said  under  the 
circumstances,  and  with  such  assurances,  the  department  would 
accept  them. 

I  called  on  your  Excellency  the  next  day,  and  merely  stated  in  a 
very  brief  manner  my  business,  and  understood  your  Excellency  to 
say  that  you  had  decided  the  previous  day  to  meet  my  wishes  in  the 
matter.  I  did  not  enter  upon  any  explanation  at  length,  but,  as  your 
decision  had  been  based  upon  the  arrangement  made  with  General 
Scott,  I  felt  that  I  could  not  be  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  number  of 
regiments  to  be  raised.  I  accordingly  returned  to  send  forward,  as 
soon  as  they  could  be  made  ready,  the  two  additional  regiments  for 
three  months,  and  the  two  others  for  three  years.  I  was  also  desirous 
of  tendering  the  government  a  third  regiment,  enlisted  for  the  war, 
to  be  furnished  with  and  drilled  in  the  use  of  Colt's  breach-revolving 
rifle,  with  the  further  idea  that  the  same  would  eventually  be  incor 
porated  into  the  regular  army.  My  design,  in  communication  with 
Colonel  Colt,  who  tenders  and  offers  to  arm  the  regiment,  without 
expense  to  the  government,  is  to  make  that  regiment  the  best  and 
most  complete  of  any  offered  by  any  State,  and  to  drill  them  at  the 
expense  of  this  State,  until  they  shall  be  thoroughly  prepared  for 
actual  service.  For  this  purpose  I  dispatched  Colonel  W.  A.  Aiken 
to  inquire  whether  you  would  accept  such  a  regiment  in  addition  to 


164  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  two  for  three  years.  The  verbal  message  brought  by  Colonel 
Aiken  was  that  the  department  would  accept  the  regiment  of  rillemen 
on  the  above  conditions. 

I  have  therefore  acted  in  accordance  with  the  above  understanding, 
arid  the  third  regiment  for  three  months  embarked  to-day  for  Wash 
ington  on  board  of  the  Cahawba.  The  fourth  regiment,  or  the  first 
for  three  years,  has  rendezvoused  in  this  city,  and  is  ready  to  be  mus 
tered  into  service.  And  I  trust  your  Excellency  will  direct  Colonel 
Loomis  to  perform  this  service.  The  regiment  of  riflemen  is  also 
rendezvoused,  and  we  are  now  drilling  the  men  by  companies,  but  do 
not  propose  to  have  them  mustered  into  service  for  fifty  or  sixty  days. 

I  need  not  say  that  if  in  my  desire  to  render  essential  service  I 
have  been  the  means  of  embarrassing  the  government,  it  will  cause 
me  deep  regret.  My  desire  is  to  have  this  State  cooperate  with  your 
department  in  the  most  thorough  and  efficient  manner. 

With  this  statement  I  only  beg  to  confirm  the  views  herein  expressed 
to  your  Excellency  with  the  assurance  that  no  State,  large  or  small, 
shall  send  you  better  troops,  or  stand  by  you  in  all  your  embarrass 
ments  and  perplexities  more  firmly  than  this  Commonwealth.* 
I  am,  dear  sir,  with  high  consideration, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

Somewhat  later  another  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  asking  permission  to  raise  still  more  troops,, 
with  only  the  assurance  that  they  will  be  accepted  if  raised, 
and  a  little  later  a  still  more  earnest  communication  through 
General  Tyler  is  made  to  him,  which  shows  how  discour 
aging  it  was  to  volunteering,  to  have  men  enlist  and  then 
not  be  able  to  get  into  the  field. 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  I 
HARTFORD,  July  26,  1861.  ( 

HON.  SIMON  CAMERON,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR: 
DEAR  SIR: — It  is  the  earnest  desire  of  the  citizens  of  Connecticut  to 


*  This  misunderstanding  having  occurred  between  the  Governor  and  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  as  to  the  number  of  troops  he  might  send  forward,  lest  Secretary 
Cameron  should  feel  annoyed  or  hurt,  the  Governor  appreciates  his  perplexities* 
and  assures  him  that,  "  If  in  my  desire  to  render  essential  service,  I  have  been 
the  means  of  embarrassing  the  government,  it  will  cause  me  deep  regret.  My 
desire  is  to  have  this  State  cooperate  with  your  department  in  the  most  thorough 
and  efficient  manner.11  Then  came  that  noble  pledge  which  follows — a  pledge  in 
behalf  of  himself  and  his  State  that  must  have  been  so  welcome  to  the  govern 
ment  at  such  a  crisis  !  How  well  it  was  redeemed  by  both,  let  the  history  of  the 
war  testify ! 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  165 

aid  and  sustain  the  government  in  this  emergency.  I  am  anxious 
to  raise  one  or  two  more  regiments  for  the  war,  but  am  disinclined  to 
issue  the  necessary  orders  without  previous  assurance  from  the  War 
Department  of  the  acceptance  of  the  troops,  by  reason  of  the 
uncertainty  which  has  hitherto  existed  as  to  whether  the  regiments 
which  Connecticut  has  raised  were  to  be  accepted.  I  should  be  glad 
to  be  informed  whether  your  department  would  accept  one,  two,  or 
three  regiments  from  Connecticut  for  three  years,  and  upon  informa 
tion  will  be  prepared  to  comply  with  your  suggestions. 

Connecticut  does  not  intend  to  be  behind  any  of  her  sister  States  in 
active  exertions  for  the  cause  of  her  country. 

I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

To  GENERAL  DANIEL  TYLKK, 
FIRST  BRIGADE,  CONNECTICUT  MILITIA, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

NORWICH,  August  7,  1861. 

SIR: — I  have  just  received  an  order  from  the  War  Department  to 
raise  one  regiment  for  the  three  now  discharged  and  about  to  be  dis 
charged.  Will  you  see  the  Secretary  of  War  at  once  and  obtain  an 
additional  order  for  three  more,  making  four  new  regiments,  and 
urge  upon  him  the  following  considerations: 

First.  It  will  be  easier  to  raise  four,  or  more,  than  one.  The 
chance  that  new  companies  will  be  accepted  under  a  call  for  one  is 
so  small  that  men  will  not  make  efforts  to  organize  themselves  and 
run  that  hazard.  But  if  I  was  willing  to  raise  from  six  to  ten,  the 
whole  State  would  be  actively  engaged. 

Second.  A  large  proportion  of  the  men  who  are  now  being  mus 
tered  out  of  the  service  will  be  ready  to  return  to  the  war. 

Third.  Many  of  our  citizens  are  leaving  the  State  and  joining  com 
panies  in  the  other  States.  One  company  in  this  city,  accepted  by  me 
two  months  ago,  has  become  discouraged  in  waiting  for  a  call  from 
the  War  Department,  and  last  week  between  thirty  and  forty  enlisted 
in  a  New  York  regiment. 

Fourth.  Public  opinion  favors  a  large  additional  force  from  the 
State,  and  if  the  services  of  our  citizens  are  not  accepted,  then  there 
will  be  danger  of  a  change  of  sentiment  so  great  that  when  future 
calls  shall  be  made  it  will  be  difficult  to  respond  without  resort  to 
conscription. 

Fifth.  Our  citizens  desire  and  earnestly  solicit  the  privilege  of 
furnishing  their  quota  of  troops  at  such  a  crisis  as  this,  and  if  we 
should  send  in  proportion  to  the  call  made  upon  New  York,  Illinois, 
and  some  other  States,  I  think  our  quota  would  not  be  less  thau  eight 
or  ten  regiments. 

I  beg  you  to  assure  Secretary  Cameron  that  in  the  performance  of 


166  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

his  duties  he  has  my  hearty  sympathy,  and  my  earnest  desire  to 
cooperate  with  him  in  the  best  and  most  effective  manner  for  the 
restoration  of  the  government  and  the  Union.  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Yours  with  high  esteem, 

WIL.L.IAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

An  extra  session  of  Congress  had  been  called  for  the 
4th  of  July.  The  President  had  filled  up  the  standing 
army  to  its  complement  of  25,000,  when  it  had  been  re 
duced  to  half  that  number ;  had  enlisted  16,000  sailors  for 
the  extemporized  blockading  squadron,  and  called  for 
75,000  of  the  State  militia  as  the  nucleus  of  a  new  army. 
He  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  go  further,  without  the 
sanction  and  co-operation  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people.  Nor  was  he  sure  how  far  the  North  would  respond 
to  such  calls  for  troops  and  loans.  He  depended  upon 
representative  men,  particularly  the  loyal  governors,  for 
information  and  advice,  and  courted  their  counsel  and 
suggestions.  Governor  Buckingham  had  known  Mr. 
Lincoln  since  1858,  when  the  latter  rendered  such  im 
portant  service  in  the  State  canvass  of  that  year,  which 
was  his  first,  and  in  reality  his  only  introduction  to  New 
England.  With  this  acquaintance,  and  the  readiness  with 
which  he  received  and  the  frequency  with  which  he  sought 
his  advice,  the  Governor  was  justified  in  expressing  his 
opinions  as  positively  as  he  did,  even  to  the  extent  of 
expostulating  with  the  administration  for  not  rising  to  a 
higher  conception  of  the  perils  of  the  hour,  and  doing 
justice  to  the  loyalty  of  the  free  States  by  calling  upon 
them  more  freely  for  whatever  was  needed  to  put  down 
promptly  and  effectually  that  rebellion.  Thus  he  wrote  to 
the  President  as  follows  :— 

STATK  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
HARTFORD,  June  25,  1861.  f 

To  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 

SIR. — The  condition  of  our  country  is  so  critical  that  the  people  of 
this  State  are  looking  with  deep  interest  to  the  measures  which  you 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  167 

may  recommend  to  Congress,  and  to  the  course  which  that  body  may 
pursue,  when  it  shall  convene  on  the  4th  of  July  next.  You  will 
not  therefore  think  me  presuming  if  I  present  for  your  consideration 
the  views  which  I  believe  are  entertained  by  a  majority  of  our 
citizens,  especially  when  I  assure  you  that  if  they  are  not  approved 
by  your  judgment,  I  shall  regard  it  as  evidence  that  their  importance 
is  overestimated. 

There  are  to-day  probably  more  than  300,000  organized,  armed  men 
in  rebellion  against  the  general  government.  Millions  of  other 
citizens  who  have  been  protected  by  its  power,  now  deny  its 
authority  and  refuse  obedience  to  its  laws.  Multitudes  of  others, 
who  prize  the  business  they  have  secured  under  its  policy,  are  so- 
overawed  by  the  manifestations  of  passionate  violence  which  sur 
round  them,  that  their  personal  security  is  to  be  found  in  suppressing 
their  opinions,  and  in  floating  with  the  current  into  the  abyss  of 
anarchy.  The  persons  and  property  and  liberty  of  every  citizen  is. 
in  peril. 

This  is  no  ordinary  rebellion:  It  is  a  mob  on  an  organized  scale, 
and  should  be  met  and  suppressed  by  a  power  corresponding  with  its. 
magnitude.  The  obligations  of  the  government  to  sustain  its  dignity 
and  to  protect  the  loyal,  and  the  principles  of  equity  and  justice;  the 
claims  of  humanity,  civilization  and  religion  unite  in  demanding  a 
force  sufficient  to  drive  out  the  rebels  from  every  rendezvous;  to 
influence  them  to  return  to  their  homes  and  their  lawful  em 
ployments;  to  seize  their  leaders  and  bring  them  before  the  proper 
tribunals  for  trial,  and  to  inflict  upon  them  the  punishment  fairly 
due  for  their  crimes.  I  trust  you  will  ask  for  authority  to  organize 
a  force  of  400,000  or  500,000  men,  for  the  purpose  of  quelling  the 
rebellion,  and  for  an  appropriation  from  the  public  treasury  sufficient 
for  their  support. 

Let  legislation  upon  every  other  subject  be  regarded  as  out  of  time 
and  place,  and  the  one  object  of  suppressing  this  rebellion  be  pre 
sented  by  the  administration  with  vigor  and  firmness  without  taking 
counsel  of  our  fears,  and  without  listening  to  any  proposition  or 
suggestion  which  may  emanate  from  the  rebels,  or  their  representa 
tives,  until  the  authority  of  the  government  shall  be  respected,  its 
laws  enforced,  and  its  supremacy  acknowledged  in  every  section 
of  the  country. 

I  trust  you  will  also  assure  the  country  that  it  is  no  part  of  the 
duty  of  the  administration,  nor  is  it  your  design  to  interfere  with  the 
domestic  institutions  of  the  States,  but  on  the  contrary  any  con 
stitutional  right,  whether  it  comes  from  the  institution  of  slavery  or 
not,  shall  receive  the  protection  of  the  general  government  under 
your  administration. 

To  secure  such  high  public  interests,  the  State  of  Connecticut  will 


168  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

bind  her  destinies  more  closely  to  those  of  the  general  government, 
and  in  adopting  the  measures  suggested,  she  would  renewedly  pledge 
all  her  pecuniary  and  physical  resources,  and  all  her  moral  power.  I 
am,  dear  sir, 

Yours  with  high  regard, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

One*  passage  from  the  President's  message  to  the  extra 
session  of  Congress,  shows  how  he  accepted  and  followed 
out  such  counsel.  He  says  : — 

Having  been  convened  on  an  extraordinary  occasion,  as  authorized 
by  the  Constitution,  your  attention  is  not  called  to  any  other  subject 
of  legislation.  It  is  now  recommended  that  you  give  the  legal  means 
to  make  this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one;  that  you  place  at  the 
control  of  the  government  for  the  work  at  least  400,000  men  and 
$400,000,000. 

This  was  promptly  done,  only  the  President  was  author 
ized  by  Congress  to  call  out  600,000  men,  the  highest 
number  Governor  Buckingham  recommended,  and  100.000 
more  than  the  President  dared  ask  for.  The  truth  was  the 
President  and  the  War  Department  and  the  Treasury 
Department  were  for  a  long  time  afraid  to  call  for  the  men 
and  money  they  needed,  fearing  the  people  would  not  finally 
honor  their  frequent  and  vast  demands.  But  their  fears 
were  needless,  as  some  of  the  heaviest  calls  for  troops 
showed. 

One  of  our  Northern  governors,  who  had  the  means  of 
knowing  the  exact  state  of  things  at  the  North,  and  with 
the  departments  at  Washington,  which  continued  essentially 
the  same  for  the  next  year,  furnishes  us  with  the  following 
information : — 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  September  16,  1862, 
several  of  the  governors  of  loyal  States  felt  deeply  the  need  of  more 
troops  in  the  field  and  were  getting  quite  restive  under  the  apparent, 
lack  of  sufficient  numbers  in  the  Union  army  to  meet  successfully 
the  rebel  forces.  This  weak  side  of  our  cause  was  so  apparent  to 
some  of  us  who  were  governors  of  the  loyal  States,  much  in  earnest 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  169 

to  have  everything  possible  done  to  crush  the  rebel  cause,  that  we 
ivere  led  to  frequent  correspondence  about  it.  I  wrote  with  serious 
earnestness  and  expostulation  to  the  President,  representing  that  the 
government  was  just  there  lagging  behind  the  intense  zeal  and  deter 
mination  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  country,  and  that  in  my  opinion 
we  ought  to  have  double  the  number  of  troops  in  the  field  that  the 
Tlnion  armies  could  then  muster,  and  that  the  people  would  hail  with 
approval  an  immediate  call  for  a  very  large  accession  of  troops,  a.nd 
that,  so  far  as  our  State  was  concerned,  if  the  question  of  funds  to 
arm  and  equip  the  new  volunteers  was  a  cause  of  embarrassment  and 
delay  to  the  general  government — knowing  that  this  did  trouble  the 
authorities  at  Washington  oftentimes  greatly  in  those  days — we  would 
put  our  quota  of  a  new  call  into  the  field,  armed  and  equipped  for 
immediate  service,  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  wait  on  the  gov 
ernment  for  reimbursement  till  such  times  as  it  was  in  funds. 

1  knew  full  well  that  I  was  but  expressing  the  views  and  wishes  of 
your  good  brother,  Governor  Andrew,  and  several  others  of  my  con 
temporaries  in  office.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  glad  to  get  my  letter  just  at 
that  time,  as  he  said  the  authorities  at  Washington  hardly  knew  how 
the  loyal  States  would  receive  a  fresh  call  for  volunteers,  being,  as 
they  were,  advised  so  many  different  ways  by  those  hanging  around 
in  Washington,  many  of  whom  were  border  State  men,  or  upeace-at- 
any-price  men,"  or  men  too  timid  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
times,  and  so  the  authorities  were  pondering  over  the  thing  with 
more  or  less  hesitation  how  to  act.  But  the  President  at  once 
dispatched  Provost-General  Simeon  Draper  to  see  and  talk  with  me, 
and  have  a  letter  to  the  President  drawn  up,  such  as  the  loyal  gov 
ernors  would  be  willing  to  sign,  recommending  an  immediate  call  for 
new  volunteers,  and  which  letter  General  Draper  was  to  take  with 
him,  calling  upon  your  brother,  Governor  Andrew,  Governor  Morgan, 
and  two  or  three  others  on  his  way  back  to  Washington,  and  then 
obtaining  the  assent  of  all  other  governors,  whom  he  could  not  call 
upon,  by  telegraphic  communication.  A  call  for  300,000  volunteers 
soon  followed,  a  letter  recommending  the  same,  and  signed  by  all  the 
loyal  governors,  being  published  as  part  of  the  President's  call. 

It  happened  that  matters  of  urgency  in  my  own  State  prevented  me 
from  attending  the  meeting  of  the  governors  at  Altoona,  though  I 
knew  and  highly  approved  of  the  object  of  the  meeting.  The  gov 
ernors  of  the  loyal  States  were  a  harmonious  family  of  officials  then, 
one  common  and  great  cause  making  us  brothers  in  feeling.  We  all 
had  great  respect  for  and  confidence  in  President  Lincoln,  but  some 
times  grew  a  little  restive  under  what  we  felt  was  too  great  caution 
and  delay  on  his  part.  But  perhaps  he  was  the  wiser  of  the  lot.  At 
any  rate,  take  him  for  all  in  all,  he  was  a  great,  unique  and  wonderful 
.man.  He  thought  a  good  deal  of  getting  letters  and  suggestions 


170  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

from  us  touching  the  interests  of  the  Union,  and  always  urged  us  ta 
write  to  him  at  any  and  all  times  when  we  had  suggestions  to- 
offer,  and  he  always  replied  promptly  to  the  same  with  grateful 
acknowledgment. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  service  of  the  loyal  gov 
ernors  during  the  war,  was  not  merely  in  raising  troops 
with  which  to  prosecute  the  war,  but  also  in  suggesting, 
advising,  and  encouraging  the  general  government  in 
respect  to  its  policy  and  plans.  These  governors  understood 
one  another,  and  were  well  agreed  as  to  what  ought  to  be 
done,  and  might  be  done,  and  it  was  no  small  part  of  their 
work  to  induce  the  general  government  to  adopt  certain 
measures,  as  well  as  pledge  their  States  to  help  carry  out 
those  measures.  By  meetings  and  correspondence  this  was- 
done  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  public  were  aware  of. 
Knowing  that  they  could  not  publicly  assemble  without 
having  their  plans  known  or  suspected,  and  made  known  to 
the  enemy  as  well  as  to  friends,  they  quietly  secured  such 
conferences  as  they  could.  Once  there  was  a  meeting  of 
the  Western  governors  in  one  of  the  Western  cities.  At 
another  time,  several  of  them  met  at  Providence,  at  the 
commencement  of  Brown  University.  Still  later  with 
more  distinct  and  decided  purpose  quite  a  number  of  them 
were  found  going  in  opposite  directions  upon  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Central  railroad,  and  dropping  off  over  night  at 
Altoona  on  the  summit  of  the  Alleghenies.  They  had  met 
to  urge  Mr.  Lincoln  to  issue  his  emancipation  proclamation, 
which  he  had  promised  to  his  friends.  He  seemingly  sus 
pecting  their  purpose,  headed  it  off  by  issuing  his  procla 
mation  to  meet  them  there  the  next  morning.  But  there 
were  no  cross  purposes  between  them,  only  mutual  con 
fidence  and  co-operation.  Happily  there  was  no  crank 
among  these  governors,  for  those  were  sober  times,  and 
they  had  been  chosen  for  their  patriotism,  sound  judgment 
and  sturdy  principles. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  171 

One  of  the  important  services  which  these  governors 
were  able  to  render  the  general  government  at  the  outset 
of  the  war,  was  not  only  to  raise  means  for  the  organiza 
tion  of  their  own  troops,  when  the  government  had  neither 
arms,  funds  nor  credit,  to  any  great  extent,  but  by  means 
of  State  loans,  to  improve  the  credit  of  the  general  govern 
ment.  At  the  session  of  the  Connecticut  Legislature  in 
May,  the  Governor  addressed  to  them  a  special  message 
upon  this  subject.  Fortunately  the  State  had  no  debt  of 
any  account,  and  the  Governor  had  just  stated  that  the 
debt  of  170,000  which  he  found  when  he  came  into  office, 
had  been  paid,  with  the  exception  of  a  balance  of  $7,000. 
The  State,  too,  had  good  credit,  and  could  make  loans  on 
better  terms  than  the  general  government.  For  who  could 
be  sure  that  the  general  government  would  survive  the 
war,  any  more  than  the  Confederacy  did,  though  the  States 
might ;  or  that  when  the  war  debt  of  the  general  govern 
ment  was  being  rolled  up  at  such  a  rate,  it  would  be  any 
better  able  to  pay  its  loans  than  the  Confederacy  was  ? 
The  Governor  recommended  raising  by  direct  tax  what 
ever  was  needed  for  "  the  organization  and  equipment  of  a 
volunteer  militia  for  the  public  defense."  But  for  other 
expenditures  which  must  be  made,  and  for  which  they 
would  "be  reimbursed  by  the  general  government,"  he 
advises  a  State  loan,  and  that  the  bonds  of  the  State  be 
exchanged  with  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United 
States  for  their  stocks  or  bonds  at  par.  This  would  give 
the  general  government  the  benefit  of  the  better  credit  of 
the  State,  as  well  as  furnish  it  at  once  with  the  funds  so 
much  needed,  besides  identifying  irreparably  the  interests 
of  the  States  with  the  general  government,  and  those  of 
the  general  government  with  the  States.  The  reasons  for 
such  a  recommendation  are  given  in  his  special  message  of 
May  21, 1861. 


172  WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  market  for  public  stocks  furnishes  evidence  that  immediate 
payment  for  necessary  expenses  cannot  be  made  without  serious  loss 
to  the  general  government,  a  share  of  which  must  eventually  be 
borne  by  the  citizens  of  this  State.  Such  loss  can  in  a  measure  be 
prevented  by  manifestations  of  confidence  in  and  fidelity  to  the 
general  government,  and  especially  by  a  pledge  of  credit  by  loyal 
States  to  and  in  maintaining  its  authority.  This  will  not  require 
pecuniary  sacrifices,  or  hazard  any  public  interest,  for  it  is  evident 
that  if  the  general  government  cannot  be  maintained,  the  value  of 
private  securities  and  almost  every  description  of  property  will  be 
greatly  depressed.  I  would  therefore  recommend  your  honorable 
body  to  authorize  bonds  of  the  State  to  be  issued  to  an  amount  even 
larger  than  the  sum  which  will  be  due  from  the  government  for  ex 
penditures  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  that  you  direct  the  proceeds 
to  be  exchanged  with  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United  States 
for  their  stock  or  bonds  at  par.  Such  a  measure  would  elevate 
public  credit,  and  assist  the  government  in  negotiating  further  loans, 
and  bind  us  more  closely  to  the  Federal  Union. 

This  recommendation  was  adopted,  and  was  one  of  those 
helps  which  any  of  the  States,  the  smallest  as  well  as  the 
larger,  could  render  the  nation  in  her  greatest  emergency, 
and  aided  in  carrying  her  successfully  through  the  con 
flicts  of  that  fierce  war.  It  makes  one  think  of  Admiral 
Farragut's  device  in  his  capture  of  Mobile,  by  which  ho 
made  fast  each  ship  of  war  to  some  ordinary  steamboat, 
that  if  the  former  was  disabled  the  latter  might  at  least 
tow  it  into  the  fight. 

The  extra  session  of  Congress  which  had  been  called 
came  together  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  very  soon  occurred 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run.  As  the  first  important 
battle  of  the  war,  and  the  first  for  which  any  comprehensive 
plan  and  considerable  preparation  had  been  made,  it  was  a 
great  victory  to  the  Confederacy  and  a  sad  humiliation  to 
the  North.  Still  the  Count  of  Paris,  a  most  intelligent  and 
impartial  military  critic,  in  his  history  of  the  war,  styles 
it  "  a  misfortune,  and  not  a  disgrace  to  the  Federal  arms." 
The  nearly  equal  numbers  engaged  on  each  side,  and  the 
nearly  equal  losses,  show  that  the  battle  was  bravely  fought, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  173 

while  the  capture  and  defense  of  Washington,  which  was 
the  gage  of  battle,  was  not  won  by  the  South.  Had  the 
Union  forces  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  upon  the  Confed 
erates,  a  truce  probably  would  have  been  brought  about, 
and  some  more  compromises  agreed  upon,  to  have  put  off 
the  final  settlement  of  the  great  issue  for  another  genera 
tion  or  two,  and  then  with  what  hope  of  getting  rid  of 
slavery  and  at  the  same  time  of  preserving  the  Union.  As 
it  was,  it  made  the  South  more  self-confident  and  arrogant 
than  ever,  and  no  arrangement  was  to  be  thought  of  which 
did  not  give  slavery  all  the  privileges  of  freedom  every 
where,  and  change  this  from  a  free  republic  to  a  slave 
republic.  Then  the  idea  of  so  many  at  the  North,  that  "  in 
three  months  or  sooner,"  the  conflict  would  end,  was  shown 
to  be  a  delusion,  while  the  South  were  made  so  confi 
dent  of  their  final  success,  the  North  found  that  if  their 
republic  was  to  be  preserved  it  must  be  by  a  patriotism 
and  by  sacrifices  such  as  they  had  not  yet  dreamed  of.  We 
can  see  now  that  we  were  all  under  higher  tutelage  than 
our  own  wisdom,  or  any  human  statesmanship,  and  that 
God  was  leading  us  in  this  dreary  way  to  the  land  of  peace- 
permanent  peace. 

The  extra  Congress  was  in  session  when  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run  was  fought.  And  this  body,  instead  of  taking 
counsel  of  their  fears,  or  of  the  fears  of  others,  rose  with 
heroic  spirit  and  wonderful  unanimity  to  the  height  of  their 
great  enterprise,  and  led  the  way  which  proved  to  be  the 
right  one,  and  which  the  nation  bravely  followed.  Though 
the  Secession  States  were  no  longer  represented,  there  were 
enough  left  who  sympathized  with  the  South,  or  were 
opposed  to  coercion,  or  were  afraid  that  slavery  would  be 
harmed,  to  throw  every  obstruction  in  the  way  of  any 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 


174  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  resolution  in  the  Senate  expelling  from  that  body  Messrs. 
Mason,  Clingman,  Wigfall  and  others,  who  were  openly  attempting 
the  overthrow  of  the  government,  was  vigorously  resisted.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  attach  to  the  Army  Appropriation  bill  the  pro 
viso,  "that  no  part  of  the  money  hereby  appropriated  shall  be 
employed  in  subjugating  or  holding  as  a  conquered  province  any 
sovereign  State  now  or  lately  one  of  the  United  States,  nor  in  abolish 
ing  or  interfering  with  African  slavery  in  any  of  the  States."  Reso 
lutions  were  offered  condemning  as  unconstitutional  the  increase  of 
the  army,  the  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports,  the  seizure  of  tele 
graphic  dispatches,  the  arrest  of  persons  suspected  of  treason.  As 
had  been  the  case  in  the  House  in  the  instance  just  referred  to,  so  in 
the  Senate  on  the  occasion  of  the  bill  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
army,  an  amendment  was  proposed  "  that  the  army  and  navy  should 
not  be  employed  for  the  purpose  of  subjugating  any  State,  or  reducing 
it  to  the  condition  of  a  territory  or  province,  or  to  abolish  slavery 
therein."  This  was  by  Mr.  Breckinridge,  recently  vice-president  of 
the  United  States,  and  shortly  to  be  a  general  in  the  Confederate 
service.  When  the  bill  freeing  slaves  who  had  been  used  in  aid  of 
the  insurrection  was  before  the  Senate,  it  met  with  earnest  opposition 
because  "  it  will  inflame  suspicions  which  have  had  much  to  do  with 
producing  our  present  evils;  it  will  disturb  those  who  are  now  calm 
and  quiet,  inflame  those  who  are  restless,  irritate  numbers  who 
would  not  be  exasperated  by  anything  else,  and  will  in  all  probability 
have  no  other  effect  than  this.  It  is  therefore  useless,  unnecessary, 
irritating,  unwise." — Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  II,  p.  184. 

In  spite  of  all  such  obstructionists,  and  as  putting  an  end 
forever  to  all  further  attempts  to  give  rebels  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  loyal  citizens,  Mr.  McClernand,  a  Democrat 
of  Illinois,  offered  this  resolution  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  :  i  This  House  hereby  pledges  itself  to  vote  for 
any  amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men  which  may 
be  necessary  to  insure  a  speedy  and  effectual  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  and  the  permanent  restoration  of  the 
Federal  authority  everywhere  within  the  limits  and  juris 
diction  of  the  United  States," — which  was  passed  by  a 
vote  of  121  to  five.  The  spirit  of  the  Senate  was  rep 
resented  by  Senator  Baker,  the  patriotic  and  brilliant 
representative  of  California,  who  fell  a  few  weeks  later  at 
Ball's  Bluff,  when  he  said :  "  I  propose  to  put  the  whole 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  175 

power  of  this  country,  arms,  men  and  money,  into  the 
hands  of  the  President.  He  has  asked  for  $400,000,000 ; 
we  will  give  him  8500,000,000.  He  has  asked  for  400,- 
000  men ;  we  will  give  him  500,000  " — which  was  done. 
The  work  of  the  special  sessions  is  thus  summed  up  in 
"  Draper's  History  of  Our  Civil  War  "  :— 

After  a  session  of  thirty-three  days  Congress  had  accomplished  its 
work.  It  had  approved  and  legalized  the  acts  and  orders  of  the 
President;  it  had  authorized  him  to  accept  half  a  million  of  volun 
teers;  it  had  added  eleven  regiments  to  the  regular  army;  it  had 
raised  the  pay  of  the  soldier  to  thirteen  dollars  a  month,  with  a 
bounty  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land  at  the  close  of  the  war  ;  it  had 
authorized  the  building  and  arming  of  as  many  ships  as  might  be 
found  requisite  ;  it  had  appointed  a  committee  to  take  charge  of  the 
construction  of  ironclads  and  floating  batteries  ;  it  had  facilitated 
the  importing  of  arms  from  abroad  by  the  loyal  States;  voted 
$10,000,000  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  and  undertaken  to  indemnify 
the  States  for  all  expenses  they  might  incur  in  raising,  paying,  sub 
sisting  and  transporting  troops;  it  had  authorized  the  President  to 
close  the  ports  of  entry  at  his  discretion;  to  declare  any  community 
to  be  in  a  state  of  insurrection  and  to  prohibit  commercial  inter 
course  with  it;  it  had  provided  that,  after  proclamation  by  him,  all 
property  used  or  intended  to  be  used  in  aid  of  the  insurrection 
should  be  seized  and  confiscated,  and  especially  if  the  owner  of  any 
slave  should  require  or  permit  such  slave  to  be  in  any  way  employed 
in  military  or  naval  service  against  the  United  States,  all  claim  to  him 
or  his  services  should  be  forfeited  by  such  owner;  it  had  appro 
priated  $227,938,000  for  the  army  and  $42,938,000  for  the  navy,  and  it 
had  made  provision  for  these  appropriations  by  imports  and  tax 
ation,  and  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  borrow 
$250,000,000. 

With  a  firmness  which  recalls  the  action  of  the  Koman  senate,  on 
the  day  after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run,  while  the  demoralized 
wreck  of  the  national  army  was  filling  the  streets  of  Washington, 
and  the  victorious  Confederate  troops  were  momentarily  expected, 
the  House  of  Representatives  resolved  "that  the  maintenance  of  the 
Constitution,  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws  are  sacred  trusts  which  must  be  executed ;  that  no  disaster 
shall  discourage  us  from  the  most  ample  performance  of  this  high 
duty;  and  that  we  pledge  to  the  country  and  the  world  the  employ 
ment  of  every  resource,  national  and  individual,  for  the  suppression, 
overthrow  and  punishment  of  rebels  in  arms.  A  few  days  later  (July 
29)  the  Senate  passed  a  resolution  to  the  same  effect. 


176  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

This  must  always  seem  the  noblest  position  a  people  ever 
took,  or  could  have  taken  under  the  circumstances.  With 
the  general  government  so  nearly  broken  down,  and  so 
many,  even  at  the  North, opposed  to  using  force  to  uphold  it 
and  prevent  secession ;  with  the  preparation  of  the  South 
to  secede  if  Mr.  Lincoln  were  elected,  as  he  was,  upon  an 
anti-slavery  platform ;  with  the  North  stripped  of  arms,  the 
treasury  robbed,  the  fortifications  and  munitions  of  war  and 
navy  yards  either  seized  or  destroyed,  our  army  reduced  to 
next  to  nothing,  the  best  part  of  our  navy  scattered 
over  the  world  where  it  could  not  be  used  when  needed ; 
when  the  war  was  inaugurated  and  Sumter  assaulted  and 
taken,  and  the  first  well-organized  battle  proved  a  disastrous 
defeat,  and  the  very  capital  of  the  nation  was  in  danger  of 
destruction ;  then  to  have  sat  in  that  Capitol  building,  as 
Congress  did  for  a  month,  within  hearing  as  it  were  of  the 
enemy's  cannon,  and  inhaling  the  very  smoke  of  the  battle 
field,  and  resolving  as  a  body,  come  what  might,  to  maintain 
the  government  and  the  Union,  and  laying  out  such  wise 
and  broad  legislation  to  effect  this  object,  was  more  than 
Roman  firmness,  noble  as  that  was,  in  merely  sitting  still  to 
face  the  inevitable. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN. 

Governor  Buckingham  Authorized  to  Raise  More  Troops—Volun 
teering  Checked  by  Distrust  of  the  Conduct  of  the  War  and  the 
Influence  of  the  "Peace  Democrats" — The  Magnificent  Troops 
that  Volunteered  in  Spite  of  all  such  Influence — Character  and 
Destination  of  the  Regiments — The  First  Heavy  Artillery  and  the 
First  Light  Battery. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run  put  a  new  aspect  upon  the  war, 
both  at  the  North  and  at  the  South.  It  put  an  end  at  the 
North  to  the  idea  that  the  war  would  be  over  in  sixty  or 
ninety  days;  it  put  a  stop  to  the  senseless  cry,  "On  to 
Richmond ! "  before  we  had  any  properly  organized  army, 
or  suitable  commander.  It  satisfied  the  North  that  the  South 
meant  not  only  to  threaten  but  to  fight,  and  had  long  been 
preparing  for  it,  and  was  in  possession  of  resources  which, 
in  addition  to  the  sympathy  they  had  at  the  North,  and  the 
co-operation  they  might  expect  from  abroad,  threatened  no 
ordinary  war.  The  effect  also  upon  the  South  of  success 
in  their  first  battle,  was  to  give  them  exaggerated  ideas  of 
their  own  martial  qualities,  disparage  the  principle,  spirit, 
and  resources  of  the  North,  and  make  them  strongly  con 
fident  of  success  in  such  a  desperate  undertaking.  They 
would  capture  Washington ;  they  would  invade  the  North 
ern  States ;  foreign  nations  would  now  recognize  the 
Confederacy ;  the  blockade  would  be  broken ;  their  new 
slave  empire  would  be  established  with  unlimited  de 
velopment  toward  Mexico  and  South  America; — so  the 
dream  of  the  South  for  more  than  a  generation  would 
be  realized.  Such  was  the  influence  of  that  battle.  But 


178  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

had  the  result  been  different  and  the  North  gained  an 
overwhelming  victory,  we  of  the  North  would  have  been 
for  patching  up  some  new  peace,  and  for  the  sake  of 
uniting  all  parties  at  the  North,  giving  the  South  new  con 
cessions  and  compromises  for  slavery.  Even  Mr.  Lincoln, 
at  this  time,  had  not  decided  to  make  emancipation  a 
condition  of  peace.  If  the  government  could  be  main 
tained  and  the  Union  restored  without  that,  he  promised  to 
attempt  no  more.  But  when  he  found,  as  he  did  within  a 
year,  that  emancipation  was  an  absolute  necessity  (and 
the  North  was  satisfied  even  sooner),  that  the  only  possi 
bility  of  saving  either  the  government  or  the  Union  was  by 
sweeping  away  utterly  the  only  enemy  to  either,  and  the 
President  under  the  urgency  of  the  Northern  governors 
committed  himself  to  that  position,  the  crisis  of  the  war 
was  reached.  The  North  knew  what  to  do,  and  the  South 
what  to  expect, — and,  under  that  good  Providence  which 
watches  over  a  nation's  destiny,  as  well  as  the  sparrow's 
fall,  things  moved  rapidly  on  toward  their  prearranged 
result.  Such  a  struggle  between  moral  forces  like  these 
was  not  likely  to  go  wrong  in  the  end,  any  more  than 
Christianity  was  to  be  swept  away  by  Jewish  unbelief  and 
pagan  power,  so  long  as  apostles  and  martyrs  maintained 
it,  and  the  Providence  that  raised  them  up  continued  to 
keep  the  succession  good.  Ours  was  a  history  of  the 
triumph  of  righteousness  over  oppression,  religious  and 
civil  liberty  over  tyranny  of  the  soul  and  the  body,  and  in 
spite  of  ages  of  struggle  and  countless  defeats,  we  had 
established  self-government  in  both  church  and  state,  and 
were  making  a  success  of  it  which  made  us  the  admi 
ration  if  not  the  envy  of  the  world.  We  had  enough  of 
the  intelligence  of  our  fathers,  and  of  their  spirit,  to  say 
that  this  successful  experiment  should  not  fail,  cost  what 
it  might. 

Then  came  one  great  crisis  of  the  war.     Another  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  179 

perhaps  a  greater  came  a  year  later,  when  the  Peninsular 
Campaign  had  failed,  and  the  Northern  States  were  threat 
ened  with  invasion.  But  now  should  we  falter  even  in  our 
disorganization  and  defeat  ? 

The  action  of  the  Connecticut  Legislature,  as  a  sample  of 
the  rest,  shows  the  spirit  of  the  North,  and  forecasts  the 
result.  The  Governor  had  called  a  special  session  of  the 
Legislature  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  and  his  message 
shows  what  had  already  been  accomplished,  and  what  more 
the  people  were  proposing  to  have  done. 

The  calls  made  for  volunteers  for  the  national  defense  have  met 
with  a  hearty  response,  and  but  for  the  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the 
general  government  to  accept  more  troops,  we  might  have  had  12,000 
or  15,000  men  in  the  field  to-day.  We  have,  however,  organized, 
equipped,  sent  into  the  field,  and  have  now  ready,  nine  regiments  of 
infantry.  Their  camp  equipage  was  complete,  and  considering  the 
want  of  preparation  and  the  haste  with  which  they  were  mustered, 
their  appointments  were  highly  respectable.  About  5,000  Sharps 
and  Enfield  rifles  have  been  purchased,  and  contracts  made  for  an 
equal  number  of  the  latter  arms,  which  have  not  yet  been  delivered. 
Arrangements  have  also  been  made  to  arm,  uniform,  and  furnish 
complete  equipments  for  two  other  regiments  now  rendezvousing,. 
and  for  one  not  yet  organized. 

The  Governor  had  been  authorized  to  organize  and  turn 
over  to  the  general  government  10,000  troops.  But  the 
President  had  since  been  authorized  to  accept  the  services  of 
500,000  volunteers.  And  if  12,000,  the  quota  of  the  State, 
should  be  called  for,  the  Governor  asked  for  authority  to 
furnish  them,  and  in  the  following  language  appealed  to 
the  patriotism  of  the  people  to  respond  to  such  a  call  :— 

Congress,  at  its  recent  session,  authorized  the  President  to  accept 
the  services  of  500,000  volunteers,  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing 
insurrection  and  enforcing  the  laws,  and  required  that  the  numbers 
furnished  by  the  several  States  should  be  equalized,  as  far  as  prac 
ticable,  according  to  federal  population.  Let  this  number  be  appor 
tioned  among  the  truly  loyal  States,  and  the  quota  for  Connecticut 
would  be  12,000.  From  the  knowledge  we  then  had  of  the  rebellion, 
that  law  met  every  conceivable  necessity,  and  may  be  justly  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  patriotic  and  liberal  acts  of  legislation  in  history. 


180  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

But  now  the  most  important  question  which  I  have  to  present  for  the 
consideration  of  your  honorable  body,  relates  to  the  removal  of  this 
restriction,  and  to  such  further  devotion  of  our  resources  to  the  use 
of  the  general  government  as  shall  add  to  its  strength,  power  and 
permanency.  Connecticut  has  not  yet  furnished  her  quota  of  500,000 
troops.  If  she  had,  would  it  be  right  to  cease  our  efforts?  If  a 
father's  dwelling  is  on  fire,  shall  a  son,  deciding  that  he  has  done  as 
much  to  extinguish  the  flames  as  any  one  of  his  brethren,  stand  with 
self-complacency  and  see  the  home  of  his  childhood  consumed  ? 
After  we  shall  have  raised  our  full  quota  of  troops,  shall  we  see  these 
States  separated  one  from  another,  this  national  Union  broken  up, 
and  make  no  further  efforts  for  public  safety?  Instead  of  inquiring 
how  much  we  have  done,  shall  we  not  inquire  what  more  can  we  do? 

Fears  may  well  be  entertained  that  we  are  not  aroused  to  our 
danger.  The  establishment  of  a  Confederacy  claiming  unlimited 
sovereignty  within  our  boundaries,  the  abandonment  of  the  ordinary 
business  and  pursuits  of  life  by  large  numbers  of  our  fellow-citizens 
in  the  Southern  States,  the  consecration  of  all  their  energies  in  mil 
itary  organization  to  subvert  this  government  and  to  establish  another 
upon  its  ruins,  having  human  slavery  for  its  chief  corner  stone,  pre 
sents  a  crisis  in  our  national  affairs  upon  which  the  continuance  of 
our  political  existence  depends.  But  it  is  a  privilege  to  live  in  a  day 
like  this;  to  take  a  bold  and  energetic  part  in  the  conflict  which  is 
now  raging  between  law  and  anarchy,  and  during  this  revolution, 
which  in  the  onward  progress  of  events  is  to  accomplish  the  wise 
designs  of  an  overruling  Providence,  exert  an  influence  which  shall 
aid  in  advancing  this  nation  to  such  a  position  of  strength  and  moral 
power,  that  every  citizen  may  safely,  fully,  and  speedily  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  freedom. 

Let  us,  as  a  people,  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  at 
hazard,  despise  the  opinions  and  discard  the  policy  of  those  who  cry 
peace  in  the  ears  of  our  enemies,  rise  above  party  ties  and  sectional 
interests,  and  give  our  property,  our  voices,  our  hands  and  our  hearts 
to  the  suppression  of  this  gigantic,  this  groundless,  this  criminal 
rebellion  against  a  government  established  both  by  human  and  divine 
authority.  This  is  a  high  honor  within  our  reach,  a  rich  privilege 
which  we  may  enjoy,  and  a  solemn  duty  which  God  calls  upon  us  to 
perform. 

The  Legislature  responded  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Governor  by  legislation,  authorizing  him  to  "  enlist,  organize 
and  equip  according  to  his  discretion  an  unlimited  number 
of  volunteers,  and  directing  the  treasurer  to  issue  additional 
bonds  of  the  State  to  the  amount  of  12,000,000  to  meet 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  181 

whatever  expense  might  be  incurred."  "  This  liberal  action," 
as  has  been  justly  said,  "in  appropriating  $4,000,000  in  a 
single  year,  and  intrusting  its  disbursement  to  a  single  man, 
evinced  an  incalculable  patriotism,  and  a  confidence  in  the 
judgment  and  fidelity  of  the  executive  almost  without 
parallel." 

During  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  there  occurred  one 
of  those  noble  instances  of  the  triumph  of  patriotism  over 
the  love  of  party  and  political  ambition,  which  so  char 
acterized  the  war.  The  administration  had  proposed  to 
General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  to  give  them  the  benefit  of  his 
popularity  with  the  Democratic  party  for  the  enlistment  of 
additional  troops  in  New  England.  This  force  was  to  be 
for  a  special  and  secret  expedition  under  his  command, 
which  proved  to  be  the  capture  and  holding  of  New  Orleans, 
when  Farragut  had  forced  the  passage  of  the  river.  General 
Butler  came  to  Connecticut  to  confer  with  the  Governor 
and  prominent  citizens,  among  whom  was  his  old  Demo 
cratic  friend,  Hon.  Henry  C.  Deming,  then  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  elected  by  acclamation  in  a 
body  largely  Republican.  Mr.  Deming  accepted  a  commis 
sion  as  colonel  of  a  regiment  to  be  raised  for  this  service  to 
be  called  uThe  Charter  Oak  Regiment,"  but  afterwards 
known  as  "  The  Twelfth  Connecticut."  As  showing  the 
spirit  and  position  of  this  gentleman,  in  his  farewell  address 
to  the  House,  he  calls  their  attention  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  rebellion  before  them,  and  what  it  was  threatening  to- 
all  the  great  interests  of  the  nation.  He  then  makes  this 
personal  appeal  to  his  fellow  legislators  and  citizens,  and 
with  peculiar  modesty  and  pathos  announces  the  decision 
to  which  he  has  come  for  himself  :— 

How,  gentlemen,  is  this  monstrous  rebellion  to  be  met?  It  can  only 
be  met  by  evincing  the.  same  earnestness  and  determination  of  spirit 
which  the  anarchs  of  the  South  display  in  upholding  conspiracy  and 
treason.  It  can  only  be  met  by  making  every  man  in  this  Northern 


182  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

land  a  soldier.  It  therefore  becomes  a  serious  question,  whether  the 
patriot  who  has  evinced  capacity  in  peaceful  pursuits,  should  not  turn 
the  full  flood  and  current  of  that  capacity  upon  the  military  pro 
fession;  whether  all  of  us  should  not  at  once  sit  down  as  humble 
pupils  in  the  school  of  the  soldier,  school  of  the  company,  school  of 
the  battalion,  and  adapt  ourselves  to  the  emergencies  of  the  military 
era  which  is  before  us. 

Moved  by  these  considerations,  I  have  to-day  accepted  a  commission 
from  the  hands  of  your  governor,  and  intend  to  devote  myself  with 
singleness  of  purpose  and  with  entire  abandonment  to  the  responsible 
position  which  I  have  assumed.  I  shall  commence  to-morrow  to 
organize  a  regiment,  and  if  I  can  master  the  theory  and  practice  of 
the  military  art,  and  if  my  part  of  physical  training  and  discipline 
shall  be  equal  to  its  hardships,  I  shall  lead  the  Twelfth  Connecticut 
Volunteers  forth  to  the  field  of  battle.  If  I  fail  in  either  of  these 
respects,  I  shall  at  least  have  the  courage  to  resign  and  thus  impose 
no  invalid  or  incompetent  officer  upon  the  government. 

General  Butler's  expedition  was  not  fully  organized 
until  the  close  of  the  year  1861,  when  the  Ninth  Con 
necticut,  under  Colonel  Cahill,  and  the  Twenty-sixth 
Massachusetts,  with  a  single  battery  were  sent  forward  to 
take  possession  of  Ship  Island,  in  the  Gulf.  Colonel  Dem- 
ing's  regiment,  the  Twelfth,  was  a  special  favorite  with 
the  young  war  Democrats,  and  though  10,000  men  had 
already  gone  from  the  State  within  six  months,  this 
regiment  was  soon  filled  up,  and  reached  Ship  Island  early 
in  March,  where  within  a  month  sixteen  regiments  were 
assembled  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans.  This  took 
place  early  in  May,  1862,  when  Colonel  Cahill's  regiment 
was  landed  to  take  possession  of  the  forts  which  the  fleet 
liad  silenced,  while  Colonel  Deming's  regiment  landed  in 
the  city  with  General  Butler,  and  for  the  first  night 
bivouacked  upon  the  wharf,  but  afterwards  were  quartered 
in  Lafayette  Square.  Colonel  Birge's  Thirteenth  Con 
necticut  Regiment  soon  attracted  General  Butler's  atten 
tion,  and  was  assigned  the  post  of  honor  at  the  Custom 
House,  the  army  headquarters.  In  that  enraged  and  in 
solent  city,  where  the  most  trustworthy  regiments  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  183 

discreet  commanders  were  required  for  a  moment's  security, 
it  was  an  honor  to  the  State  to  have  had  such  confidence 
reposed  in  her  troops.  The  Thirteenth  was  also  the  regi 
ment  (to  say  nothing  of  its  after  history,  and  the  honor  to 
which  its  commander  attained)  to  which  General  Butler 
refers  in  proof  of  his  success  in  shutting  out  the  yellow 
fever  from  New  Orleans  and  making  it  the  healthiest  city 
in  the  country,  although  within  ten  years  one  quarter  of 
the  unacclimated  had  died  in  three  months.  "  Up  to  this 
date  there  have  been  no  malignant  or  epidemic  or  virulent 
fevers  or  diseases  in  New  Orleans,  and  its  mortality  returns 
show  it  to  be  the  most  healthy  city  in  the  United  States. 
In  one  regiment,  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut,  1,000  strong, 
quartered  in  the  Custom  House  since  the  15th  of  May,  but 
one  man  was  lost  in  July  and  August."  This  was  cer 
tainly  a  striking  tribute  to  the  sanitary  measures  of  the 
commander  in  chief,  but  quite  as  much  so  to  the  habits 
and  morals  of  these  troops. 

Governor  Buckingham  having  received  from  the  Legisla 
ture  at  its  extra  session  in  October,  authority  to  raise  more 
troops,  and  being  furnished  with  an  additional  appropriation 
for  this  purpose,  set  about  this  work  with  his  usual  energy 
and  success.  The  Secretary  of  War  also  had  signified  his 
readiness  to  accept  additional  cavalry  and  artillery  over 
and  above  the  State's  quota.  But  the  times  in  some 
respects  were  unfavorable  to  volunteering.  The  battle  of 
Bull  Run  had  been  discouraging.  Not  that  our  losses  had 
been  so  great,  nor  that  it  had  developed  such  strength  on 
the  part  of  the  Confederacy  that  we  needed  to  despair  of 
final  success,  for  in  later  times  the  strength  of  the  Confed 
erates  at  Antietam  and  Gettysburg,  and  our  losses  at  Fred 
erick  sburg  and  in  the  Wilderness,  only  showed  how  much 
greater  sacrifices  must  be  made  if  the  government  was 
to  be  maintained,  and  then  the  response  was  as  prompt 
and  magnificent  as  could  have  been  desired.  Now,  how- 


184  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ever,  there  was  a  prevalent  distrust  of  the  management  of 
the  war;  a  question  whether  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
had  any  suitable  commander,  and  whether  its  movements 
were  not  too  much  controlled  by  civilians  and  politicians. 
There  was  also  in  Connecticut,  where  political  parties  were 
nearly  equal  and  party  spirit  always  intense,  a  considerable 
amount  of  what  was  called  "  Peace  Democracy."  This 
element  took  occasion  to  show  itself  opposed  to  the  whole 
struggle.  At  the  May  session  of  the  Legislature,  resolu 
tions  were  offered  in  favor  of  the  Crittenden  Compromises, 
virtually  a  settlement  of  the  strife  upon  any  terms,  assum 
ing  that  the  rebellion  never  could  be  put  down,  and  that 
disunion  was  already  accomplished.  Such  measures  were 
advocated  in  language  like  this:  "There  seems  to  be  a 
radical  mistake  on  the  part  of  many  people.  They  appear 
to  think  that  the  South  can  be  conquered.  Sir,  this  is 
impossible.  You  may  destroy  their  habitations,  devastate 
their  fields  and  shed  the  blood  of  their  people,  but  you 
cannot  conquer  them."  At  that  time,  however,  and  in  that 
body,  such  sentiments  found  little  sympathy  ;  for  in  a  body  of 
more  than  200  members  there  were  only  eighteen  to  vote  for 
such  resolutions.  But  when  the  first  serious  reverse  came, 
"peace  meetings"  began  to  be  held.  Disloyal  sentiments 
were  uttered,  volunteering  was  discouraged,  and  there  were 
marked  signs  of  violence  and  riot.  In  this  state  of  things, 
the  Governor  issued  the  following  proclamation,  defining 
the  duties  of  the  State  and  the  rights  of  individuals,  and 
also  setting  forth  the  perils  to  both  from  unauthorized 
speech  and  reckless  conduct  :— 
BY  HIS  EXCELLENCY,  WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM,  ) 

GOVERNOR  OF    THE  STATE  OF    CONNECTICUT.  ) 

A    PROCLAMATION. 

Eleven  States  of  this  Union  are  now  armed  and  in  open  rebellion 
against  federal  authority;  they  have  paralyzed  the  business  of  the 
nation,  have  involved  us  in  civil  war,  and  are  now  exerting  their  com 
bined  energies  to  rob  us  of  the  blessings  of  free  government. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  185 

The  greatness  of  their  crime  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  human 
governments.  At  this  critical  juncture,  our  liberties  are  still  further 
imperiled  by  the  utterance  of  seditious  language  by  a  traitorous 
press,  which  excuses  or  justifies  the  rebellion,  by  secret  organizations, 
which  propose  to  resist  the  laws  of  the  State  by  force,  by  the  public 
exhibitions  of  "peace  flags"  falsely  so-called,  and  by  an  effort  to 
redress  grievances  regardless  of  the  forms  and  offices  of  law. 

The  very  existence  of  government,  the  future  prosperity  of  this 
entire  nation,  and  the  hopes  of  universal  freedom  demand  that  these 
outrages  be  suppressed. 

The  Constitution  guarantees  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  but 
holds  the  person  and  the  press  responsible  for  the  evils  which  result 
from  this  liberty.  It  guarantees  the  protection  of  property,  but  it 
regards  no  property  as  sacred  which  is  used  to  subvert  governmental 
authority.  It  guarantees  the  person  from  unreasonable  seizure,  but 
it  protects  no  individual  from  arrest  and  punishment  who  gives  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  our  country.  It  provides  by  law  for 
the  punishment  of  offenses,  but  allows  no  grievance  to  be  redressed 
by  violence.  I  therefore  call  upon  the  citizens  of  this  State,  to  sup 
port  and  uphold  the  authority  and  dignity  of  the  government,  and  to 
abstain  from  any  act  which  can  tend  to  encourage  and  strengthen  this 
conspiracy.  And  I  call  upon  the  officers  of  the  law  to  be  active,  diligent 
and  fearless  in  arresting  and  in  instituting  legal  proceedings  for  the 
punishment  of  those  who  are  guilty  of  sedition  and  treason,  and  of 
those  who  are  embraced  in  combinations  to  obstruct  the  execution  of 
the  laws; — so  peace  may  again  be  restored  to  our  distracted  country, 
and  the  liberties  of  the  people  be  preserved. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  State,  at  Hartford,'  this 
thirty-first  day  of  August,  A.D.,  1861. 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
By  his  Excellency's  command, 

J.  HAMMOND  TRUMBULL,  Secretary  of  State. 

These  disturbances  were  soon  quieted,  and  volunteerino: 
became  brisker  than  ever.  The  first  three  regiments  sent 
to  the  front  were  three-months'  men,  and  their  term  of 
enlistment  having  expired  they  had  just  returned  and  been 
dismissed.  But  as  showing  the  material  of  which  they 
were  composed,  "the  men  of  these  regiments  re-enlisted 
almost  without  an  exception ; ?'  while,  as  showing  what  a 
few  months  of  thorough  drill  and  service  in  the  field  could 
do  for  them,  it  should  be  added  that  "500  of  them  after- 


186  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

wards  held  commissions  in  the  army,"  including  among 
them  Major-General  Alfred  H.  Terry  and  Brevet  Major- 
General  Joseph  R.  Hawley.  The  Governor,  with  authority 
from  the  State  to  raise  more  than  her  quota  of  troops,  and 
the  promise  from  the  War  Department  that  they  should  be 
accepted,  with  the  funds  at  his  disposal,  the  State  out  of 
debt,  and  the  credit  of  the  State  such  that  her  loans  could 
be  made  at  par  (or  a  little  over),  when  the  general  govern 
ment  could  only  effect  them  on  less  advantageous  terms, 
entered  upon  the  work  with  his  usual  vigor  and  success. 
He  appealed  to  the  people,  showing  what  the  exigency 
demanded  if  government  was  to  be  upheld  and  the  Union 
preserved.  He  reminded  them  of  the  part  the  State  had 
taken  in  securing  our  original  independence,  and  the  honor 
able  share  her  sons  had  borne  in  the  organization  and 
administration  of  the  Republic. 

The  people  responded  to  his  summons  as  never  before. 
The  young  men  from  the  farms,  the  shops,  the  counting- 
rooms,  the  schools,  the  colleges,  the  theological  seminaries, 
as  by  a  common  impulse  of  patriotism  and  chivalry, 
enlisted.  Nor  did  men  of  business,  and  those  well-nigh  past 
the'  age  of  military  service,  excuse  themselves  at  such  a 
crisis,  but  offered  their  services  the  more  freely  as  defeats 
and  losses  showed  that  they  were  needed.  In  fact,  the 
real  character  of  the  North  was  never  known,  not  even 
to  themselves,  until  the  darkest  periods  of  the  war  came, 
and  natural  timidity  and  party  spirit  took  advantage 
of  them  to  insist  upon  a  settlement  upon  any  terms. 
Then  intelligent  and  conscientious  conviction,  combined 
with  old  Cromwellian  courage,  multiplied  Roundheads 
faster  than  they  could  fall  in  battle  or  die  in  the 
camp.  Of  this,  Iowa,  that  young  Western  State  with  so 
many  Eastern  characteristics,  furnished  a  good  illustra 
tion  when  she  raised  a  volunteer  regiment  of  men  past 
military  age,  called  the  "  Graybeard  Regiment,"  who  served 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  187 

through  the  war  and  did  heroic  service.*  Such  at  once 
became  the  spirit  of  Connecticut,  and  much  was  done  to 
foster  it.  Most  of  the  daily  press,  with  every  item  of  news 
that  had  reference  to  the  war,  was  enforcing  some  lesson 
•of  patriotic  duty.  The  pulpit  could  no  more  keep  silent 
when  our  republic  was  in  peril,  and  civil  and  religious 
liberty  at  stake,  and  the  "  year  of  jubilee  "  coming  to  the 
slave,  than  in  the  Protestant  wars  of  Europe,  or  in  the 
times  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  or  in  our  own  Revo 
lutionary  struggle. 

Then  came  the  endless  work  of  mustering,  equipping 
and  drilling  recruits,  before  they  could  be  sent  into  the 
field.  Camps  were  established  at  Hartford,  New  Haven, 
Norwich  and  Meriden.  Every  city  government  and  the 
selectmen  of  every  town  were  enlisting  men,  and  stimulat 
ing  enlistment  by  generous  bounties  and  promising  to 
take  care  of  the  families  that  were  left  behind,  engage 
ments  that  were  well  kept.  Everything  was  to  be  pro 
vided.  The  State  seldom  had  arms  enough  to  arm  a 
regiment  in  advance  of  its  enlistment.  Though  it  had  an 
agent  in  Europe  to  purchase  them,  and  was  on  the  lookout 
for  such  as  were  manufactured  here,  and  the  Governor  and 
his  friends  were  buying  up  on  their  own  responsibility  such 
as  were  thrown  upon  the  market,-- still  this  was  for  the 
first  year  at  least  a  constant  source  of  anxiety  and  hin 
drance.  As  for  clothing  and  equipments,  while  the  women 
were  no  longer  obliged  to  make  up  the  uniforms  of  the 
men  as  at  first,  it  was  long  before  everything  could  be 
manufactured  and  provided  for  a  military  encampment. 
In  fact  the  organization  of  such  an  encampment,  keeping 


*  This  "  Graybeard  Regiment  "  was  made  up  of  men  over  forty-five  years  of  age 
and  under  no  legal  obligation  to  take  upon  themselves  the  duties  of  soldiers. 
They  were  generally  about  fifty  years  of  age,  and  some  over  sixty.  They  had 
already  sent  to  the  war  a  good  proportion  of  their  sons  and  grandsons,  and  iu 
1863,  the  most  discouraging  period  of  the  war,  these  enlisted  for  garrison  duty,  and 
served  in  this  capacity  till  the  war  was  over. 


188  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

everything  in  order  there,  not  merely  policing  properly 
such  a  community,  providing  comfortably  and  regularly 
for  so  many  men  and  animals,  but  seeing  that  every  one 
was  at  his  post  and  attending  faithfully  to  his  duties,  and 
looking  after  every  expenditure  and  keeping  all  accounts 
properly  adjusted,  both  with  the  State  and  with  the  general 
government,  was  for  civilians  no  easy  work. 

This,  however,  was  the  time  when  everybody  in  the  State 
seemed  to  be  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  State,  not  as  a 
salaried  agent,  but  as  a  generous  friend,  only  anxious  to  find 
out  how  to  render  the  most  and  the  best  service.  The  best 
man  was  selected  to  look  after  this  or  that  State  contract 
Such  an  one  was  to  engage  steamboat  transportation  for  the 
troops  as  they  were  to  be  sent  South.  Another  was  to  see 
that  they  were  properly  provisioned  until  the  general  gov 
ernment  could  take  care  of  them.  Still  others  must  be 
looking  up  suitable  horses  for  the  cavalry  and  artillery  that 
was  being  organized.  This  was  the  time  when  the  Governor 
was  so  often  met  hurrying  to  and  from  Washington,  to  confer 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  make  arrangements  with  some  of  the 
departments,  or  if  not  doing  this  personally,  sending  one  of 
his  staff,  or  some  one  peculiarly  fitted  for  a  difficult  errand. 
There  was  plenty  of  such  work  then,  and  some  of  it 
encountered  difficulties,  such  as  securing  Lieutenant  Robert 
0.  Tyler,  who  had  just  graduated  at  West  Point,  to  take 
command  of  one  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  and  then 
changing  it  from  an  infantry  to  a  heavy  artillery  regiment, 
at  the  earnest  desire  of  the  young  colonel.  Much  of  this 
service  was  gratuitously  done,  like  Captain  Daniel  Tyler's, 
the  only  professional  soldier  in  the  first  three  regiments,  who 
prepared  the  Connecticut  troops  so  well  for  the  field,  and 
led  them  well  in  that  Bull  Run  retreat.  He  accepted  his 
appointment  on  his  own  stipulation,  that  he  should  receive 
no  compensation  from  the  State.  His  service  was  suffi 
ciently  recognized  afterwards  by  his  promotion  in  the  army. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  189 

But  those  were  times  of  pure  patriotism,  and  disinter 
ested  devotion  to  the  public  service,  and  when  the  State 
could  summon  to  its  aid  all  manner  of  ability,  and  devotion, 
and  self-sacrifice,  from  the  noblest  motives.  Then  the 
people  of  the  North,  moved  by  a  common  purpose  and 
inspired  by  a  divine  impulse,  roused  themselves  to  their 
calling,  and  no  cost  was  too  great  for  the  attainment  of  their 
purpose.  It  was  at  this  period — the  last  of  1861— that  we 
began  to  show  what  was  meant  by  the  "Uprising  of  a  Great 
People."  A  few  weeks  before,  unable  to  believe  such  a  war 
possible,  incredulous  as  to  any  such  desperate  spirit,  or  well- 
organized  preparations,  or  sufficient  resources  on  the  part 
of  the  South,  and  with  only  75,000  troops  called  for  and 
these  three-months'  men,  our  response  was  not  perhaps  so 
remarkable.  But  when  it  began  to  appear  how  much  more 
must  be  done  if  we  expected  to  save  the  Republic,  what  a 
length  of  line  was  to  be  held  across  the  very  continent,  and 
crowded  down  until  no  rebel  port  could  maintain  itself  to 
the  south  of  it,  and  this,  too,  with  our  insignificant  army  ; 
what  a  seacoast  on  both  sides  of  the  continent  was  to  be 
effectually  blockaded  when  we  virtually  had  no  navy ;  when 
we  were  imperiled  by  the  disposition  of  foreign  nations  to 
acknowledge  the  nationality  of  the  South,  and  the  Trent 
affair  nearly  involved  us  in  immediate  war  with  Great 
Britain;  and  when  we  were  at  a  loss  to  know  how  our 
credit  was  to  bear  the  strain  of  even  such  expenditures, — 
then  came  the  uprising  of  the  people,  the  pouring  in  of 
volunteers,  the  crowding  of  Northern  camps  with  organized 
troops  all  ready  for  the  field,  which  the  government  was 
unable  to  either  use  or  support.  This  was  a  sight  for  the 
world  to  behold.  Not  a  mere  popular  insurrection,  nor  wild 
rushing  into  some  foreign  war,  nor  a  vast  government  con 
scription,  nor  rash  incurring  of  war  expenditures  with  no 
hope  of  ever  meeting  them ;  but  the  people,  urging  them 
selves  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  government,  and  pro- 


190  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Tiding  themselves  for  all  military  expenses,  and  this  not  to> 
conquer  anybody,  much  less  enslave  anybody,  but  to  pre 
serve  the  national  government,  and  maintain  self-govern 
ment  and  the  equal  rights  of  all,  and  before  high  heaven 
and  in  the  sight  of  the  world,  pledging  themselves  not  to 
let  this  only  example  of  such  government  perish  from 
among  men,  and  to  stand  by  this  pledge  till  it  was 
redeemed  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody,  even  those  who 
were  struggling  to  defeat  them.  This  is  what  the  world 
saw,  and  what  we  achieved  for  the  world. 

As  showing  how  the  loyal  governors  and  their  States 
kept  in  advance  of  the  general  government,  and  were 
always  raising  more  troops  than  the  government  would 
accept,  look  at  the  condition  of  things  in  several  of  them 
at  this  time.  Governor  Morton  of  Indiana,  whose  State 
was  naturally  Democratic  and  had  a  considerable  element 
of  its  population  from  the  South,  writes  to  Washington : 
"  Though  this  State  has  furnished  its  quota  of  thirty-seven 
regiments,  we  can  give  the  nation  one  hundred  regiments 
just  as  well."  Governor  Morgan  of  New  York  sent  two 
members  of  his  staff  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  offer 
of  thirty  regiments  already  raised.  Seventeen  were  ac 
cepted  and  the  rest  refused.  These  gentlemen  were  urging 
the  acceptance  of  the  whole  number  on  the  ground  that  all 
were  likely  to  be  needed,  and  that  it  seriously  discouraged 
enlistments  to  have  any  of  them  rejected.  Being  unsuc 
cessful  with  the  War  Department,  they  went  to  the  Presi 
dent  with  their  case,  who  said :  "  Yes,  that  is  true  ;  it  will 
seriously  discourage  future  enlistments  to  have  any  of 
them  kept  back ;  I  will  see  about  it,"  and  he  did.  New 
York,  before  the  year  ended,  had  in  service,  or  ready  to 
engage  in  it,  ninety  regiments  of  infantry,  ten  of  cavalry 
and  five  regiments  or  battalions  of  artillery  and  engineers, 
amounting  nearly  if  not  quite  to  100,000  men.  At  the 
same  time  Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio  allows  ten  days  for 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  191 

the  completion  of  his  regiments  in  camp,  and  says  that 
"within  that  time,  the  State  will  have  contributed  35,000 
more  of  her  troops  to  the  grand  column  that  is  on  its 
march  to  New  Orleans  by  the  way  of  Nashville."  Massa 
chusetts  had  seventeen  regiments  in  the  field  and  was 
organizing  ten  more,  with  no  assurance  that  they  would  all 
be  accepted. 

And  so  with  Connecticut.  When  only  a  single  regiment 
was  the  State's  quota  under  the  first  call,  she  raised  and 
equipped  three  others,  and  kept  them  in  camp  under  drill, 
to  take  the  place  of  the  three-months'  men  who  should  not 
re-enlist,  or  in  case  more  should  be  needed.  In  the  fol 
lowing  autumn,  the  Governor's  message  to  the  extra  session 
of  the  Legislature  says :  "  The  calls  made  for  volunteers 
for  the  national  defense  have  met  with  a  hearty  response, 
and  but  for  the  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  general  govern 
ment  to  accept  more  troops,  we  might  have  12,000  or  15,000 
men  in  the  field  to-day."  As  it  was,  however,  the  State 
then  had  nine  regiments,  with  camp  equipage  complete, 
already  in  the  field,  or  ready  to  go  at  a  few  days'  notice. 
This  was  the  time  when  the*  three  regiments  of  three- 
months'  men,  who  had  conducted  themselves  so  well  at 
Bull  Run,  had  re-enlisted.  It  was  then  that  such  troops  as 
these,  and  under  such  commanders,  were  forwarded  to  the 
general  government,  and  others  incorporated  with  them  to 
do  good  service  in  other  battles  and  campaigns.  These 
troops  had  not  only  fought  well  there,  for  fresh  troops,  but 
kept  up  their  organization  when  so  many  other  commands 
were  completely  broken  up  in  that  wild  rout.  They  were 
the  rear  guard  of  the  retreating  army,  and  other  States 
were  indebted  to  them  for  the  protection  of  their  dis 
organized  forces,  and  the  saving  of  their  camp  property. 
"The  Connecticut  Brigade,"  says  the  New  York  Worldy 
"  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field,  and  by  hard  fighting  had 
to  defend  itself  and  to  protect  our  scattered  thousands  for 


192  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

several  miles  of  the  retreat."  They  not  only  occupied 
their  own  camping  ground  the  night  after  the  battle,  but 
when  ordered  to  leave  for  Washington  they  took  with  them 
not  only  their  own  baggage,  but  the  tents  and  equipments 
of  two  Ohio  regiments  and  the  Second  New  York,  which 
had  been  deserted.  General  Tyler,  their  commander, 
might  well  say  with  pride:  "At  7  o'clock  Tuesday  morn 
ing,  I  saw  the  three  Connecticut  regiments,  with  2,000 
bayonets,. march  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Corcoran,  after- 
having  saved  us  not  only  a  large  amount  of  public  property, 
but  the  mortification  of  having  our  standing  camps  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

This  was  the  time  when  the  Fifth  Connecticut  Regiment, 
spoken  of  as  "a  splendid  body  of  men  and  ably  officered," 
left  for  the  seat  of  war,  within  a  month  after  our  repulse 
at  Bull  Run,  a  regiment  that  behaved  well  in  the  battle  and 
defeat  of  Winchester,  in  the  fiercer  fight  with  Jackson  at 
Cedar  Mountain,  and  shared  faithfully  the  fortunes  of  Sher 
man  in  his  march  through  Georgia  to  the  sea.  This  regi 
ment  was  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Orris  S.  Ferry, 
who  afterwards  became  brigadier  general,  and  still  later 
represented  the  State  in  the  United  States  Senate  as  the 
colleague  of  Governor  Buckingham. 

This  regiment  was  followed  by  the  Sixth  and  Seventh ; 
the  former  commanded  by  Colonel  Chatfield,  who  died 
of  wounds  received  in  storming  Fort  Wagner,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  William  G.  Ely,  who  came  out  of  the  war 
a  brevet  brigadier  general ;  the  latter  by  Colonel  Alfred  H. 
Terry,  "  The  Hero  of  Fort  Fisher,"  made  a  major  general 
in  the  regular  army,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Joseph  R. 
Hawley,  who  was  brevetted  major  general,  and  is  now 
serving  his  third  term  as  United  States  Senator.  These 
troops  were  attached  to  General  Sherman's  successful  ex 
pedition  against  South  Carolina,  and  after  Commodore 
Dupont  with  his  fleet  had  reduced  the  forts  that  defended 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  193- 

Port   Royal,  they  were  selected  to  land  first.     This  they 
seem   to  have  done  without  much  regard  to  order  or  pre 
cedence,  for  when  their  steamer  ran  aground,  they  sprang 
into  the  water  and  formed  upon  the  beach.     This  was  a 
matter    of    pride    to   them   and   to  their  State,  which  the 
Governor  expressed  in  a  proclamation  congratulating  the 
State  and  her  soldiers,  that  "  the  two  regiments  from  Con 
necticut  were  the  first   to   land   on   the  hostile  shore,  and 
after  the  stars  and  the  stripes,  the  flag  of  Connecticut  was 
the  first  to  wave  above  the  traitorous  soil  of  South  Caro 
lina."     These    regiments    were    both    concerned    in    the 
capture  of   Morris  Island    in  Charleston    harbor,  and  the 
brave  though  unsuccessful  assault  upon  FortWaener;  in 
the  tedious  reduction  of   Petersburg  and   the  movements 
that   secured    the   evacuation    of    Richmond,    and    in   the 
capture    of   Fort   Fisher,   which    had    been    unsuccessfully 
attempted  before,  but  now  was  accomplished  by  the  fleet 
under  Admiral  Porter,  and  the  land  forces  under  General 
Terry.     It  had  become   a   necessity  to  reduce  this  fort  to 
put   a   stop   to  the  immense  amount  of  blockade  running 
into    the    port    of    Wilmington.     It    must    be    attempted 
again    and    taken  by  storm  if    possible  ;  if   not,  by  siege. 
General  Grant  knew  that  he  had  in  Admiral  Porter  ai.d 
his  fleet  what  he  wanted  for  the  naval  part  of  the  expedi 
tion,  and  his  wisdom  put  the  land  forces  in  charge  of  that 
blue-eyed,  light-haired,  modest  young  officer  who  came  from 
Connecticut  at  the  head  of  a  single  regiment,  at  the  out 
break  of  the  war,  with  no  military  knowledge  except  what 
he  could  have  acquired  in  the  State  militia.     He  was  given 
some  of  his  old  State  troops,  and  especially  his  own  regi 
ment,  and  furnished  also  with  a  portion  of  the  First  Con 
necticut    Heavy  Artillery  under   Colonel   Abbot,   with    a 
sufficient  siege  train,  if  the  fort  could  not  be  carried  with 
out   a   siege.     The  fleet  began  the  attack,  and  for  eight 
honro  nhoti  u,nd  shell  were  poured  upon  that  devoted  forti- 


194  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

fication  at  the  rate  of  more  than  300  a  minute.  Then 
came  the  assault,  on  one  side  from  the  naval  column, 
which  was  repulsed,  and  on  the  other  by  the  land  forces, 
led  by  Generals  Terry  and  Ames. 

The  fighting  was  at  close  quarters,  The  carnage  was  terrible.  The 
leader  of  each  brigade  and  the  commanders  of  half  the  regiments 
went  down  in  the  storm.  The  Pennsylvania  regiments  were  first  in 
the  fort.  At  five  o'clock,  after  the  most  desperate  fighting,  foot  by 
foot,  we  had  possession  of  half  the  land  front.  Terry  sent  for 
Abbot's  brigade,  with  the  Sixth  Connecticut,  and  his  old  regiment 
the  Seventh.  He  springs  to  the  head  of  the  column,  leads  it  through 
the  fort  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels,  and  compels  instant  and 
unconditional  surrender.  The  result  was  a  capture  of  the  garrison 
of  2,000  men,  160  guns,  and  seven  valuable  blockade  runners. — ["  Con 
necticut  in  the  War,"  p.  689. 

So  Fort  Fisher  fell,  the  last  great  shelter  of  blockade  run 
ners,  and  possessing  works  almost  impregnable.  Admiral 
Porter  telegraphed :  "  I  was  in  Fort  Malakoff  a  few  days 
after  its  surrender  to  the  French  and  the  British.  The 
combined  armies  of  those  two  nations  were  many  months 
capturing  that  stronghold.  And  it  did  not  compare  in  size 
or  strength  with  Fort  Fisher." 

These  troops  were  followed  by  the  Eighth,  Tenth,  and 
Eleventh  Regiments  to  join  the  Burnside  expedition  for 
Hatteras  Inlet.  After  encountering  a  terrible  storm  off 
the  cape,  which  lasted  three  weeks,  and  wrecked  one-third 
of  the  fleet  before  it  could  get  over  the  bar,  the  rebel  works 
on  Roanoke  Island  were  subdued,  and  Newborn  taken  after 
many  difficulties  and  severe  fighting,  in  which  these  troops 
bore  a  conspicuous  part.  The  position  won,  however,  im 
portant  as  it  might  have  seemed,  was  never  worth  the  valor 
and  loss  it  cost;  it  was  so  far  inland,  and  so  easily  over 
whelmed  by  a  concentrated  force  of  the  enemy,  that  it  had 
to  be  relinquished  before  the  close  of  the  war,  when  Ply 
mouth  was  recaptured,  and  so  many  noble  fellows  were 
carried  off  to  starve  in  Southern  prisons.  The  "gallant 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  195 

Eighth,"  as  it  was  called,  under  Colonel  Edward  Harland, 
proved  itself  a  good  regiment  everywhere,  whether  in  hold 
ing  its  position  and  reorganizing  the  disorganized  troops  at 
Antietam,  or  in  leading  the  way  over  the  ramparts  of  Fort 
Harrison  in  front  of  Petersburg.  For  such  leadership  their 
commander  attained,  as  he  well  deserved,  the  rank  of 
brigadier  general.  The  Tenth,  under  Colonel  Russell, 
had  shared  faithfully  with  the  Eighth  and  the  Eleventh 
in  the  reduction  of  the  works  on  Roanoke  Island,  and 
in  the  capture  of  Newbern,  and  had  not  its  noble  young 
colonel  fallen  so  early  in  the  war,  he  too  might  have 
attained  to  equal  honor.  The  Eleventh  gallantly  stormed 
the  bridge  at  Antietam,  where  it  lost  its  commander, 
Colonel  T.  H.  C.  Kingsbury,  and  Captain  John  Griswold, 
"  two  of  its  choicest  men,"  and  there  with  those  other  Con 
necticut  regiments,  particularly  the  Sixteenth,  contributed 
so  liberally  to  the  grave,  the  hospitals,  and  tiie  rebel 
prisons.  This  Eleventh  regiment  did  important  service  at 
Cold  Harbor,  in  a  brigade  commanded  by  their  own  Colonel 
Stedman,  who  says :  "  We  left  the  woods  with  2,000  men  ; 
in  five  minutes  we  returned,  six  hundred  less,"  and  at  the 
assault  upon  the  works  of  Petersburg  when  the  mine  was 
exploded,  they  lost  their  second  colonel  just  as  he  had 
been  bre vetted  brigadier  general. 

The  recruiting  of  these  regiments  was  immediately  fol 
lowed  by  that  of  three  others  for  General  Butler's  expedi 
tion  against  New  Orleans.  These  were  the  Ninth  under 
Colonel  Cahill,  the  Twelfth  under  Colonel  Deming,  and  the 
Thirteenth  under  Colonel  Birge,  which  have  already  been 
spoken  of  and  characterized.  Only  one  of  them  left  the 
State  during  that  autumn,  but  the  other  two  were  then 
recruited  and  reorganized,  and  left  early  in  1862. 

In  the  meantime  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery 
was  organized  and  equipped,  that  unequaled  contribution 
to  our  army,  which  had  no  other  organization  of  the  kind, 


196  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

save  the  Second  Heavy  Artillery,  which  was  also  furnished 
by  Connecticut.  This  was  originally  an  infantry  regiment, 
but  when  its  young  colonel,  Robert  0.  Tyler,  just  graduated 
at  West  Point  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  engineer  corps,  took 
command,  its  organization  was  changed,  and  instead  of  a 
regiment  of  ten  companies  of  100  men  each,  it  was  com 
posed  of  twelve  companies  of  150,  or  1,800  men  all  told. 
These  were  trained  both  as  infantry  and  as  artillerists,  and 
in  service  might  be  found  leaving  their  heavy  guns  behind 
them,  and  using  their  muskets  as  effectively  as  their  ram 
rods  and  sponges.  It  was  a  splendid  body  of  troops,  as 
the  writer  saw  them  reviewed  by  the  Governor,  just  before 
they  left  Virginia  to  join  McClellan  in  his  Peninsular  cam 
paign ;  1,600  of  them  in  line,  young,  bright,  clear-faced, 
carrying  with  them  the  principles  and  morals  of  their  New 
England  homes;  and  with  their  accomplished  commander 
and  his  promising  staff  officers,  it  was  not  strange  that  they 
accomplished  all  that  was  expected  of  them,  and  received 
the  highest  commendation  of  the  army  officers,  and  the 
government,  and  foreign  military  critics.  We  remember 
at  the  dinner  table,  after  the  review,  when  the  first  troops 
from  the  neighboring  camps  were  being  sent  down  the 
Potomac,  some  one  said  to  their  colonel :  "  Colonel,  our 
boys  feel  badly  that  these  troops  are  going  off  on  this  expe- 
tion,  and  we  must  lie  here  in  our  camp."  u  Nonsense," 
was  his  reply,  worthy  of  the  wisdom  and  self-control  of 
some  old  veteran ;  "  our  business  is  to  have  a  good  regi 
ment,  and  if  we  have  one  we  shall  be  wanted."  We  soon 
read  that  they  were  to  join  the  expedition,  and  take  with 
them  a  large  siege  train,  a  train,  as  it  proved,  of  "  seventy- 
one  heavy  guns, — from  200-pounder  Parrotts  to  thirteen-inch 
sea-service  mortars,  exceeding  in  weight  by  fifty  per  cent, 
any  guns  that  had  ever  before  been  placed  in  siege  bat 
teries."  To  have  transported  them  safely  through  the 
swamps  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  not  left  one  of  them 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  197 

there;  to  have  used  them  so  effectively  at  Malvern  Hill 
and  saved  our  army  in  its  utter  rout,  and  to  have  held  so 
pertinaciously  the  siege  of  Petersburg  until  Richmond  was 
evacuated  and  Lee  was  forced  to  surrender, — this  is  achieve 
ment  enough,  and  honor  enough  for  any  commander,  espe 
cially  for  a  young  engineer,  and  for  troops  that  would  have 
been  deemed  raw  recruits  in  most  armies  when  they  were 
accomplishing  this.  Well  did  they  deserve  all  the  honor 
that  has  been  given  them,  and  the  promotion  of  brevet 
major  general  bestowed  upon  their  commander. 

Nor  was  this  all,  for  during  that  autumn  was  raised  and 
drilled,  though  not  sent  into  the  field  until  some  time  in 
the  winter,  the  State's  First  Light  Battery,  and  the  First 
Regiment  of  Cavalry.  This  battery  consisted  of  four 
bronze  six-pounder  James  rifled  guns,  156  men  and  the 
proper  number  of  horses,  ammunition  wagons,  forage 
wagons,  a  forge  and  everything  necessary  for  immediate 
service.  It  created  a  sensation  in  a  quiet  Connecticut 
town  like  East  Meriden,  to  witness  their  drill  and  hear 
them  thundering  over  their  fields  and  hills  in  so  much  of 
the  reality  of  war;  and  when  they  left  we  are  not  surprised 
that  it  was  with  the  high  respect  of  the  community  who 
not  only  looked  upon  them  as  heroes  from  the  first,  but 
esteemed  them  personally,  and  followed  their  fortunes  with 
deep  interest.  There  is  in  the  State  Capitol  at  Hartford, 
by  the  side  of  the  State  flags  and  near  the  statue  of  the 
"War  Governor,"  a  wheel  of  one  of  the  guns  of  this 
battery,  which  is  more  descriptive  of  its  services  than  any 
ordinary  history  of  it  could  be.  It  is  a  wheel  that  has 
been  disabled  by  a  round  shot  cleanly  cutting  its  way 
through  its  immensely  thick  tire  and  solid  oak  felly, 
carrying  away  half  the  hub,  leaving  the  wheel  in  ether 
respects  as  compact  and  solid  as  ever.  Upon  it  are  in 
scribed  the  name  of  its  captain,  Alfred  P.  Rockwell,  and 
the  more  important  engagements  in  which  it  had  been 


198  WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM. 

concerned,  such  as:  "James  Island,  S.  C.,  June, '62;'* 
44  Bermuda  Hundred,  Va.,  May  and  June,  '64;"  "before 
Petersburgh,  August  and  September, '64 ;"  "before  Rich 
mond,  from  October, '64,  to  April,  '65,"  and  "struck  in 
action  at  Proctor's  Creek,  Va.,  May  15,  '65."  There  are 
more  than  twenty  of  these  inscriptions,  representing  a  full 
three  years  of  service  in  the  war.  It  should  be  said  also 
that  their  young  captain  who  led  them  to  the  war,  returned 
a  brevet  brigadier  general. 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  was  also  recruited  and 
equipped  at  the  same  time.  Previous  to  this  a  squadron 
was  enlisted,  but  when  the  War  Department  declined  to 
receive  any  more  troops  from  the  State,  it  entered  the  "Ira 
Harris"  Cavalry  Regiment  of  New  York.  But  this  cavalry 
battalion  of  846  men,  recruited  from  almost  every  town  in 
the  State,  and  said  to  have  been  made  up  as  a  rule  of  men 
of  superior  intelligence  and  character,  was  raised  without 
difficulty,  and  sent  to  West  Virginia,  where  it  began  at  once 
that  hard  and  desperate  work,  which  belongs  to  this  branch 
of  military  service,  and  which  was  never  intermitted  until 
it  had  helped  to  finish  the  war  around  Richmond  and 
Petersburg,  and  witnessed  the  surrender  of  Lee.  When  it 
left  the  State  it  was  only  a  battalion  of  about  350,  but  the 
hardships  of  the  service,  both  upon  men  and  horses,  were  so 
severe  that  it  required  a  constant  recruiting  of  both  to  keep 
them  up  to  even  this  standard.  And  their  services  were  so 
valuable  that  after  a  time  they  were  recruited  up  to  a  full 
cavalry  regiment  of  675  mounted  men.  Their  recruits  came 
both  from  the  North  and  from  the  South,  for  on  one 
occasion  they  enlisted  120  veterans,  who  were  Confederate 
prisoners  and  deserters  from  the  Confederate  army — men 
who  had  been  impressed  into  that  service  from  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee.  They  were  also  supplied  at  one 
time  with  500  horses,  and  so  many  of  them  being  raw 
recruits  and  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  they  were  sent 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  199 

to  Annapolis,  Aid.,  and  put  in  charge  of  their  old  com 
mander,  Major  Blakeslee,  who  subjected  them  to  hard  drill 
and  rigid  discipline,  and  brought  them  to  an  admirable 
condition,  when  they  were  ordered  to  join  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  share  heavily  in  the  hardships  and  losses  of 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness.  The  following  is  a  description 
of  them  as  they  left  for  the  front:— 

The  old  camp  was  broken  up  and  abandoned,  rations  cooked  and 
distributed,  horses  fed  and  groomed,  small  packs  made  up,  and  G75 
mounted  men  were  drawn  up,  mounted  in  close  column  of  squadrons, 
every  man  in  place,  sabres  shining,  flags  flying,  and  guidons  flashing 
in  the  wind; — a  magnificent  array.  Major  Blakeslee,  young  and  almost 
beardless,  might  well  be  proud  of  his  command,  and  the  bugler 
sounded  the  officers'  call.  The  line  officers  rode  to  the  front,  and 
received  directions  to  permit  no  straggling  nor  foraging,  and  to  keep 
the  ranks  well  filled  up.  The  bugler  sounded  the  "Forward!"  and 
away  they  rode  to  the  year  of  deadly  conflict,  to  toil  and  vigilance, 
heat,  cold  and  hunger,  death,  wounds,  and  glory.— ["  Connecticut  in 
the  TFar,"  p.  49G. 

The  history  of  this  single  regiment  has  enough  of  hard 
ship,  heroism  and  romance  in  it  to  fascinate  and  impress  a 
nation  with  the  noblest  qualities  of  manhood  and  patriotism, 
even  if  we  had  not  so  much  more  of  the  same  in  the  whole 
army  and  in  every  branch  of  the  service.  Take  some  of  the 
work  of  this  regiment  in  Western  Virginia.  Harry  Gilmore, 
the  "Rebel  Raider,"  had  been  making  some  of  his  audacious 
and  successful  forays  across  the  borders  of  the  Northern 
States,  and  had  swept  into  Maryland,  cutting  the  railroad 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  capturing  a  major 
general  and  a  number  of  officers  on  the  train.  Major 
Whitaker  of  this  cavalry  was  ordered  by  Sheridan's  chief 
of  staff  to  take  300  picked  men  and  pursue  this  bold 
rider  any  distance  and  at  any  risk,  until  he  was  cap 
tured  and  handed  over  to  the  Federal  authorities.  These 
troopers  pushed  up  all  day  and  all  night  over  the  Alleghenies 
for  seventy  miles,  thirty  of  which  were  within  the  enemy's- 
lines,  making  a  march  of  140  miles  in  a  little  over  forty- 


200  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

eight  hours,  secured  Gilmore  and  handed  him  over  to  the 
authorities  to  bo  imprisoned  as  a  spy  in  Fort  McHenrv.  A 
still  more  daring  and  successful  personal  adventure  is  told 
of  Major  Blakeslee,  their  " young  and  almost  beardless" 
commander.  It  occurred  in  that  desperate  fighting  between 
Grant  and  Lee  for  the  capture  and  defense  of  Richmond. 
The  men  had  been  dismounted  and  put  upon  the  skirmish 
line,  where  they  had  remained  for  eighteen  hours  without 
relief  or  food,  when  word  came  from  their  brigade  com 
mander  :  "  I  must  have  a  regiment  that  I  can  trust,  and  the 
First  Connecticut  must  stay  all  night."  They  were  to 
advance  at  dawn  the  next  morning,  but  being  out  of 
ammunition  and  delayed  in  securing  it,  they  fell  behind, 
when  suddenly  the  enemy  charged  upon  their  rear  with 
such  fury,  that  there  was  a  perfect  stampede  of  pack 
animals  and  drivers,  frightened  horses  and  mules,  mounted 
servants  and  soldiers,  with  ail  military  order  lost,  and  even 
brave  men  swept  away  in  the  panic-stricken  crowd.  Major 
Blakeslee  on  a  powerful  horse  forced  his  passage  to  the 
rear,  and  opening  his  command  to  the  right  and  left,  let 
the  fugitives  go  through,  when  he  found  himself  and  his 
command  face  to  face  with  a  full  brigade  of  rebel  cavalry. 
Major  Blakeslee  tells,  in  a  private  letter,  of  this  encounter 
in  the  charge  with  a  rebel  horseman  :— 

I  was  somewhat  in  advance  of  my  men,  when  the  sudden  dash  of 
our  horses  had  somehow — I  have  no  distinct  idea  how — brought  this 
horseman  and  myself  side  by  side.  He  was  a  little  in  advance  of  his 
men,  and  we  met  about  midway  between  the  opposing  troops.  He 
was  so  near  that  I  could  have  laid  my  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  when 
he  thrust  the  muzzle  of  his  pistol  within  three  or  four  inches  of  my 
right  side  and  snapped  the  cap.  It  missed.  As  quick  as  thought  I 
raised  my  pistol  to  his  left  side  and  fired.  He  fell  from  his  horse  and 
died  instantly.  I  saw  his  pistol  drop  from  his  grasp  to  the  ground, 
and  I  did,  what  in  a  cooler  moment  I  should  not  have  done;  in  the 
midst  of  bullets  I  leaped  from  my  horse,  snatched  the  pistol,  sprang 
on  again,  and  led  his  horse  to  my  men,  and  gave  it  to  Sergeant  Ilinman, 
who  fighting  near  me  had  had  his  horse  shot  under  him,  and  he  kept 
the  revolver  as  a  trophy.  The  whole  occupied  but  a  few  seconds. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  201 

This  record,  which  is  in  itself  such  a  tribute  of  praise  to 
the  State  and  its  governor,  is  none  the  less  so  because  many 
other  States  showed  similar  patriotism,  and  other  governors 
wrought  with  similar  zeal  and  fidelity  in  the  work  of  saving 
the  nation. 

In  this  first  year  of  the  war  and  time  of  hesitancy  as 
to  what  should  be  done,  and  what  the  North  was  ready  to 
do,  when  there  were  such  divided  counsels  as  to  the 
management  of  the  war,  and  who  should  be  put  at  the 
head  of  our  armies,  and  when  our  armies  were  to  be  raised 
and  the  whole  art  of  war  was  to  be  learned  by  us ;  such  a 
bare  record  of  what  had  to  be  done,  and  was  done,  by  one 
of  these  loyal  States,  is  illuminating.  It  shows,  too,  what 
its  governor  meant  when  he  was  urging  the  government  to 
prosecute  the  war  with  more  vigor,  and  gave  the  Secretary 
of  War  this  pledge  in  behalf  of  himself  and  State  :  "  With 
this  statement  I  only  beg  to  confirm  the  views  herein 
expressed  to  your  Excellency,  with  the  assurance  that  no 
State,  large  or  small,  shall  send  you  better  troops,  or  stand 
by  you  in  all  your  embarrassments  and  perplexities  mure 
firmly,  than  this  Commonwealth." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  YEAR  1862. 

Review  of  the  Situation  up  to  1862— Progress  of  the  War  in  the  West 
and  on  the  Coast — Governor  Buckingham's  Re-election — A  Patri 
otic  Legislature — The  Peace  Party  in  Connecticut — Demands  that 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  Move. 

The  second  year  of  the  war,  1862,  opened  with  some  important 
gains  to  the  Federal  government,  though  the  preceding  year  had 
been  one  of  fearful  perils,  and  not  a  few  heavy  losses.  Several  of  the 
Southern  States  had  been  kept  from  joining  the  Confederacy,  and 
Missouri,  the  most  hostile  and  dangerous  of  the  border  States,  had 
been  pretty  well  subdued,  thanks  to  the  prompt  action  and  vigorous 
campaigns  of  General  Lyon.  Our  military  line  of  occupation  from 
the  Cumberland  Mountains  across  Kentucky  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  had  been  pushed  down  into  Tennessee,  and  the  upper  Miss 
issippi  had  been  opened  as  far  down  as  Memphis.  The  blockade  of 
the  Southern  ports  had  been  made  so  effectual  that  no  foreign  nation 
ventured  to  treat  it  as  a  "paper  blockade,"  except  at  the  risk  of 
forfeiting  every  ship  and  cargo  engaged  in  blockade  running,  and 
though  the  coast-line  to  be  guarded  was  more  than  3,000  miles,  and 
required  600  vessels,  most  of  them  steamers,  to  do  it  effectually, 
more  than  half  this  number  had  been  provided  and  were  engaged 
in  this  business  within  nine  months  after  the  war  broke  out.  Our 
navy,  too,  which  was  comparatively  nothing  at  first,  soon  became 
formidable  enough  to  fear  no  rebel  cruiser,  and  to  recover  the  more 
important  of  our  government  fortifications,  or  to  seal  up  the  ports 
where  they  were  situated.  This  n  ivy  was  collected  and  created  out 
of  every  craft  that  could  be  strengthened  to  carry  a  rifled  cannon,  or 
sustain  a  mortar,  until  we  had  a  fleet  of  war  and  transport  steamers, 
of  ironclads  and  rams  and  monitors,  which  soon  took  possession  of 
Hatteras  Inlet  and  Newbern,  the  refuge  of  blockade  runners,  recap 
tured  Fort  Pulaski,  the  defense  of  Savannah,  and  sweeping  away  the 
defenses  of  New  Orleans,  brought  that  important  city,  and  more 
important  river,  under  Federal  control.  There  was  another  peculiar 
part  of  our  navy  called  into  existence  at  that  time;  the  stout,  swift, 
side-wheel  steamboats  of  our  Western  rivers,  with  no  armor,  only 
altered  for  the  better  protection  of  their  machinery,  and  carrying 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  208 

several  rifled  guns;  the  powerful  steamers  of  5,000  tons  burden, 
heavily  armored,  and  each  carrying  a  dozen  heavy  guns;  and 
those  smaller  but  still  more  powerful  steamers,  heavily  armored, 
with  slanting  casemates,  a  plating  of  two  and  a  half  inches,  carrying 
thirteen  guns  and  steaming  nine  miles  an  hour,  together  with  the 
"tinclads,"  which  were  only  musket-proof.  These  all  went  to  make 
up  Commodore  Foote's  gunboat  fleet  on  our  Western  waters,  with 
which  he  soon  cleared  the  upper  Mississippi  of  the  enemy's  fleet  and 
obstructions,  reducing  "Island  No.  10,"  its  strong  hold,  and  keeping 
the  river  open  until  our  fleet  was  met  at  Memphis  by  Farragut's  fleet 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  that  great  prize,  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  was  won  for  the  West.  It  was  this  fleet,  under  this 
commander,  which  reduced  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  on  the  Ten 
nessee  and  Cumberland  rivers,  and  made  it  possible  for  General 
Grant  to  win  that  all-important  battle  of  Corinth,  or  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  and  clear  his  passage  for  the  investment  of  Vicksburg,  and 
open  the  way  afterwards  for  General  Sherman  to  set  out  on  his 
"  march  to  the  sea."  Then  our  army  which  was  so  insignificantly 
small  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  was  reported  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  as  having  within  nine  months  been  increased  by  voluntary 
enlistments  to  600,000  men.  Even  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  only  one 
of  the  half-dozen  of  our  Northern  armies,  had  upon  its  muster  rolls, 
January  1,  1802,  219,707  men.  And  this  was  the  rate  at  which 
enlistments  had  to  be  kept  up  to  make  good  the  losses  of  the  service, 
until  probably  2,000,000  of  Union  men  had  been  in  the  field  before 
the  war  closed.  One  million  and  fifty  thousand  were  on  the  rolls  and 
drawing  pay  when  the  war  ended.— Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Chaps.'44 
and  45,  Vol.  II. 

Thus  the  military  and  naval  strength  of  the  Federal 
government  was  steadily  and  rapidly  increasing  when  the 
new  year  opened,  and  this  was  to  be  soon  followed  by 
some  important  successes.  Fort  Pickens,  one  of  the 
strongest  of  our  fortifications,  the  key  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex 
ico,  had  just  been  saved  to  the  Union  by  the  "  fidelity 
and  prompt  energy  of  Lieutenant  Slemmer,  its  com 
mander,"  when  most  of  the  Southern  forts,  with  immense 
military  stores,  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  seceding 
States.  About  this  time  also  a  military  and  naval  expedi 
tion  had  been  planned  and  successfully  executed  by  Com 
modore  Dupont  and  General  Sherman  against  Port  Royal, 
S.  C.  Tli is  is  a  fine  port  between  Charleston  and  Savannah, 


204  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

from  which  expeditions  could  be  fitted  out  against  either  of 
these  places,  as  was  done  when  Fort  Pulaski,  the  defense 
of  Savannah,  was  taken  and  held,  and  whence  a  position 
was  secured  on  the  neighboring  islands  of  Charleston  to 
operate  against  that  city.  A  land  and  sea  expedition  under 
General  Butler  and  Commodore  Stringham  had  also  been 
successfully  carried  out  against  Hatteras  Inlet,  which  sealed 
up  that  part  of  the  coast  against  blockade  runners,  and 
allowed  General  Burnside  and  Admiral  Goldsborough,  a 
few  months  later,  to  capture  Roanoke  Island,  and  all  the 
approaches  to  Newborn,  and  take  possession  of  the  city 
itself,  a  position  quite  inland,  important  both  with  reference 
to  North  and  South  Carolina. 

Such  had  been  our  substantial  gains  and  brightening 
prospects  as  the  year  was  closing,  when  we  were  suddenly 
brought  into  the  most  critical  relations  with  Great  Britain 
by  the  u  Trent  affair."  The  case  was  this  :  Messrs.  Mason 
and  Slidell,  Confederate  commissioners  to  foreign  govern 
ments,  had  run  the  blockade  to  the  West  Indies,  and  taken 
the  English  mail  steamer  Trent  for  England.  Captain 
Wilkes,  in  command  of  one  of  our  war  steamers,  the  San 
Jacinto,  learning  of  this,  overhauled  the  British  steamer, 
demanded  and  took  possession  of  these  commissioners  as 
contrabands  of  war,  and  delivered  them  up  to  the  Federal 
authorities.  Instead  of  asking  for  an  explanation  in  the 
usual  form  and  through  the  ordinary  channels  of  diplo 
matic  intercourse,  and  giving  us  an  opportunity  to  disavow 
the  act  and  apologize  for  it,  as  we  might  have  been  expected 
to  do,  if  it  was  as  illegal  and  indefensible  as  was  repre 
sented,  a  peremptory  and  threatening  demand  was  imme 
diately  made  out  for  the  surrender  of  the  prisoners,  and, 
without  any  communication  with  Mr.  A  darns,  our  minister 
at  the  British  court,  was  forwarded  directly  to  Washington 
by  a  private  messenger,  together  with  a  letter  from  Earl  Rus 
sell  to  Lord  Lyons,  saying  that  "the  British  government 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  205 

would  not  allow  such  an  affront  to  her  national  honor  to 
pass  without  full  reparation."  The  London  Times  also  told 
us  in  advance  that  there  was  no  door  left  open  for  explana 
tion  or  negotiation,  and  that  no  possible  delay  of  decision 
would  be  allowed.  Preparations  also  were  immediately 
begun  for  war,  and  large  shipments  made  of  troops  and 
arms  for  Canada,  as  if  we  were  to  be  driven  into  war  and 
no  way  left  open  for  any  peaceful  settlement  of  the  diffi 
culty.  Indeed,  if  the  tone  of  the  press,  the  spirit  of  diplo 
matic  correspondence,  the  preparation  for  war  on  the  part 
of  the  British  government,  were  an  indication  of  the  temper 
of  that  per  pie,  it  seemed  as  if  they  desired  war,  and  would 
provoke  us  into  it  if  possible. 

And  what  was  this  astonishing  violation  of  the  neutrality 
laws  of  nations  and  gross  insult  to  national  honor  which 
England  complained  of  so  confidently  and  resented  so 
keenly  ?  As  it  appeared  to  us  at  the  time,  it  seemed  as 
if  we  had  enough  in  the  exigencies  of  our  condition  ;  in 
the  true  meaning  and  spirit  of  neutrality  law;  in  the  prin 
ciples  and  practice  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  character 
of  the  prisoners  taken  as  our  own  subjects,  engaged  in  a 
plot  to  overthrow  the  government,  and  enlist  foreign 
nations  in  aid  of  such  a  conspiracy  ;  to  justify  our  procedure. 
Therefore  it  was  not  strange  that  the  act  was  generally 
commended  by  the  press  and  rejoiced  over  by  the  people,  so 
that  Captain  Wilkes,  as  soon  as  he  reached  Boston  and 
had  seen  his  prisoners  safely  shut  up  in  Fort  Warren, 
accepted  a  public  reception  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  was 
judged  worthy  to  be  made  an  admiral.*  He  had  taken 
from  the  ship  of  a  neutral  nation,  which  had  no  right  to 
help  our  enemies  carry  on  war  against  us,  "  officers  and  dis 
patches  "  of  the  enemy  which  were  as  much  "  contraband 

*  Though  the  government  could  not  properly  bestow  upon  him  such  promotion 
when  he  had  neglected  to  have  his  act  justified  by  an  admiralty  court,  or  out  of 
the  proper  order  of  promotion,  he  was  soon  after  made  commodore  for  distin 
guished  service,  and  several  years  later,  when  upon  the  retired  list,  a  rear  admiral. 


206  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

of  war  "  as  "  arms,  military  stores  and  materials  "  of  war. 
They  had  all  been  included  together  in  the  Queen's  procla 
mation  of  neutrality  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Confederates,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  war : — 

Her  Majesty's  "  loving  subjects  and  all  persons  whatsoever  entitled 
to  her  protection,"  were  forbidden  and  warned  against  "  entering  into 
the  military  service  of  either  of  the  said  contending  parties;"  against 
"fitting  out,  arming  or  equipping  any  ship  or  vessel,  to  be  employed 
as  a  ship  of  war,  or  privateer,  or  transport,  by  either  of  the  contend 
ing  parties;"  also  against  "carrying  officers,  soldiers,  dispatches, 
arms,  military  stores  or  materials,  or  any  articles  considered  and 
deemed  to  be  contraband  of  war,  according  to  the  law  or  modern 
usage  of  nations,  for  the  use  or  service  of  either  of  the  contending 
parties:  and  all  persons  so  offending  will  incur  and  be  liable  to  the 
several  penalties  and  penal  consequences  by  the  said  statute,  or  by 
the  law  of  nations,  in  that  behalf  imposed  or  denounced. 

Then  we  were  only  following  the  example  and  adopting 
the  principles  of  Great  Britain  in  this  matter.  She  had 
claimed  the  right  to  take  her  seamen  from  our  vessels 
wherever  she  found  them,  and  had  often  exercised  it  against 
our  remonstrances.  Indeed,  this  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
our  war  of  1812,  and  the  war  was  ended  without  our  secur 
ing  the  relinquishment  of  that  claim.* 

Yet  in  spite  of  such  justification  of  our  course,  our  gov 
ernment  repudiated  the  act  of  Captain  Wilkes,  surrendered 
his  prisoners,  and  congratulated  itself  that  it  had  settled  at 
last  a  dangerous  principle  of  international  law,  from  which 
we  had  suffered  and  were  liable  at  any  time  to  suffer  more. 
The  state  paper  which  disposed  of  the  matter  may  indeed 
be  considered  as  able  and  just  a  treatment  of  the  subject,  as 


*  As  showing  how  captious  the  British  government  was  at  this  time,  and  how 
forgetful  of  her  own  principles  of  action  in  similar  circumstances,  it  will  be  remem 
bered  that  she  arraigned  us  sharply,  and  seemed  disposed  to  pick  a  quarrel,  on  the 
ground  of  our  violating  the  laws  of  nations  and  freedom  of  the  seas,  because  we 
had  attempted  to  block  up  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  S-  C.,  until  we  gave  them  the 
assurance  that  such  obstructions  would  be  removed  when  the  war  was  over.  And 
yet  Scott,  in  his  "  Life  of  Napoleon  I,"  says  she  "attempted  to  destroy  the  harbor 
of  Boulogne  by  sinking  in  the  roads  ships  loaded  with  stone."— [  Vol.  11, p.  85,  7/ar- 
1827- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  207 

it  was  skillfully  drawn  to  soothe  the  irritated  feelings  of 
our  people  and  satisfy  them  that  this  was  the  only  right 
course  to  be  pursued  under  any  circumstances.  Mr.  Sew- 
ard,  our  Secretary  of  State,  who  drew  up  the  paper,  took 
the  ground  that  our  act  was  not  justified,  because  the  ship 
and  the  prisoners  were  not  taken  into  port  and  the  case 
tried  by  some  admiralty  court,  and  declared  justifiable ; 
and  also  because  the  arrest  and  search  of  a  foreign  vessel, 
and  the  disregard  of  the  protecting  power  of  another  flag, 
were  too  great  an  exercise  of  authority,  without  the  revision 
and  sanction  of  some  court  of  law,  to  be  entrusted  to  any 
ship  captain,  or  naval  officer,  or  even  cabinet  minister. 

Mr.  Seward,  in  this  paper,  after  maintaining  the  inde 
pendent  sovereignty  of  a  nation,  and  the  protecting  power  of 
its  flag,  and  its  right  even  to  protect  what  is  contraband  of 
war  until  some  court  of  admiralty  has  declared  it  contra 
band  and  justified  its  seizure,  says  :— 

I  have  not  been  unaware  that  in  examining  this  question,  I  have 
fallen  into  an  argument  from  what  appears  to  be  the  British  side 
of  the  case  against  my  own  country.  But  I  am  relieved  from  all 
embarrassment  on  that  subject.  I  had  hardly  fallen  into  that  line  of 
argument  when  I  discovered  that  I  was  really  defending  and  main 
taining,  not  an  exclusive  British  interest,  but  an  old,  honored  and 
cherished  cause;  not  upon  British  authorities,  but  upon  principles  that 
constitute  a  large  portion  of  the  distinctive  policy  by  which  the  United 
States  have  developed  the  resources  of  a  continent,  and  thus  becoming 
a  considerable  maritime  power,  has  won  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  many  nations. 

Then,  after  showing  that  these  principles  were  laid  down 
by  this  government  as  early  as  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis 
tration,  in  instructions  to  Mr.  Monroe,  at  that  time  our 
minister  to  England,  and  had  been  persistently  maintained 
ever  since,  he  goes  on  to  say  :— 

If  I  decide  this  case  in  favor  of  my  own  government,  I  must 
disallow  its  most  cherished  principles,  and  reverse  and  forever  abandon 
its  essential  policy.  The  country  cannot  afford  it.  If  I  maintain 
those  principles  and  adhere  to  that  policy,  1  must,  surrender  the  case 


208  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

itself.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  this  government  cannot  deny 
the  justice  of  the  claim  presented.  We  are  asked  to  do  to  the  British 
nation  just  what  we  have  always  insisted  all  nations  should  do  to  us. 

Then  referring  to  the  justification  of  our  act  in  its  neces 
sity  for  the  salvation  of  our  government,  he  says  :— 

If  the  safety  of  the  Union  required  the  detention  of  the  captured 
persons,  it  would  be  the  right  and  the  duty  of  this  government  to 
detain  them.  But  the  effectual  check  and  waning  proportions  of  the 
existing  insurrection,  as  well  as  the  comparative  unimportance  of  the 
captured  persons  themselves,  when  dispassionately  weighed,  happily 
forbid  me  from  resorting  to  that  defense.  Nor  have  I  been  tempted 
at  all  by  suggestions  that  cases  might  be  found  in  history  where  Great 
Britain  refused  to  yield  to  other  nations,  even  to  ourselves,  claims  like 
that  which  is  now  before  us.  It  would  tell  little  for  our  claims  to  the 
character  of  a  just  and  magnanimous  people,  if  we  would  so  far  con 
sent  to  be  guided  by  the  law  of  retaliation,  as  to  lift  up  buried  injuries 
from  their  graves,  to  oppose  against  what  national  consistency,  and 
the  national  conscience,  compel  us  to  regard  as  a  claim  intrinsically 
right.  Pushing  behind  me  all  suggestions  of  this  kind,  I  prefer  to 
express  my  satisfaction  that  by  the  adjustment  of  the  present  case 
upon  principles  confessedly  American,  and  yet  as  I,  trust  mutually 
satisfactory  to  both  of  the  nations  concerned,  a  question  is  finally  and 
rightly  settled  between  them,  which  heretofore  exhausted  not  only 
all  forms  of  peaceful  discussion,  but  also  the  arbitrament  of  war  itself, 
and  for  more  than  half  a  century  alienated  the  two  countries  from 
each  other,  and  perplexed  with  fears  and  apprehension  all  other 
nations. 

So  this  black  war  cloud,  which  might  have  swept  away 
our  Union,  and  with  it  our  bright  prospects  and  so  many 
of  the  hopes  of  the  world,  was  mercifully  dissipated,  and 
England,  whose  glory  has  been  her  persistent  and  success 
ful  opposition  to  slavery,  was  spared  the  infamy  of  helping 
to  establish  a  slaveholding  confederacy  after  such  a  record.* 


*  Mr.  Russell  of  the  London  Times  professed  to  be  under  the  impression  that  the 
government  could  not  give  up  Mason  and  Slidell ;  that  the  people  would  not  allow 
it.  Well,  Mason  and  Slidell  are  given  up,  and  no  tumults  succeed.  Indeed,  we 
think  there  is  a  very  general  sense  of  relief  in  consequence.  Moreover,  it  was 
supposed  that  these  and  traitors  could  not  be  relinquished  at  the  demand  of 
Great  Britain,  without  the  fact  and  the  sense  of  the  national  humiliation  on  our 
part.  The  thing  has  been  done,  and  it  will  not  be  a  week  before  we  shall  perceive 
that  we  have  performed  one  of  the  proudest  deeds  of  our  history  ;  that  there  was 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  209 

In  the  State  canvass  this  year,  Governor  Buckingham 
was  elected  for  the  fifth  time,  and  by  a  handsome  majority. 
The  Legislature  also  was  largely  Republican  in  both 
branches;  the  Senate  wholly  so,  and  the  House  having  181 
Republicans  to  56  Democrats.  The  Democratic  party  was 
always  strong  and  well  organized  in  the  State,  and  for 
the  most  part  they  sustained  the  general  administration 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  war;  like  Colonel  Doming, 
who,  though  a  Democratic  leader,  was  elected  Speaker 
of  the  last  Republican  House  of  Representatives,  and 
had  just  gone  to  the  front  at  the  head  of  a  regiment. 
There  were,  however,  a  considerable  number  of  "  Peace 
Democrats,"  who  became  a  peculiarly  obstructive  and 
dangerous  element  at  that  time  when  the  government  was 
taxed  to  the  utmost  in  raising  troops,  which  this  class 
discouraged.  Still  they  encouraged  "  peace  meetings,11 
gathered  under  a  white  flag,  or  under  our  national  flag 
with  fourteen  of  its  stars  blotted  out,  to  represent  the 
number  of  the  seceding  States.  Resolutions  were  passed 
that  "  the  American  Union  is  forever  destroyed,"  and  the 
towns  were  called  upon  to  take  ground  "  against  a  further 
continuance  of  this  bloody  spectacle,"  and  some  of  their 
papers  were  saying:  "We  are  opposed  to  this  war.  It  has 
already  driven  the  border  States  out  of  the  Union  ;  it  can 
never  bring  them  back;  it  is  crushing  out  the  lifeblood  of 


really  nothing  that  we  could  have  done  so  masterly  in  its  effect  upon  the  rebellion 
and  upon  foreign  opinion.  The  release  of  the  rebel  commissioners,  purely  on  the 
authority  of  American  precedent,  supporting  American  theory,  binding  England  to 
the  support  of  a  doctrine  which  she  has  always  practically  opposed,  even  in  her 
dealings  with  this  country,  will  be  accounted  by  foreign  governments  as  one  of  the 
cleverest  jobs  ever  done  in  diplomacy.  It  is  so  clever  we  almost  suspect  it  to  be  a 
trick  ;  yet  we  have  only  to  reperuse  Mr.  Seward's  masterly  paper,  to  find  that  wi- 
have  the  argument,  and  that  he  has  really  left  nothing  to  be  said.  The  subject  is 
exhausted.  There  it  is  in  all  its  length,  breadth,  and  thickness,  and  in  all  its 
bearings  and  relations.  America  states  its  own  argument,  and  saves  the  British 
government  the  trouble  of  doing  it.  Then  she  tosses  back  into  British  protection 
the  men  whom  it  is  not  the  slightest  object  for  her  to  keep,  and  washes  her 
hands  of  the  whole  affair  before  the  nations—  [Springfield  Republican  January  6 
and  9, 1863. 


210  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

New  England."  This  element  took  advantage  of  our  de 
feats,  as  at  Bull  Run,  to  show  the  hopelessness  of  the 
struggle,  and  to  discourage  enlistments,  when  a  draft  had 
to  be  levied  after  <jthe  losses  of  1863.  It  was  responsible 
for  the  riots  at  New  York  and  at  Boston,  and  almost  pro 
voked  one  in  Connecticut.  It  was  one  of  the  helpful  and 
hopeful  features  of  the  State,  that  at  this  time  when  its 
military  and  financial  resources  were  to  be  taxed  so  heavily, 
there  was  such  perfect  unanimity  on  this  subject,  on  the 
part  of  the  Governor  and  both  branches  of  the  Legislature. 
The  Legislature  adjourned  upon  the  close  of  General 
McClellan's  disastrous  Peninsular  campaign,  having  re 
mained  in  session  to  know  the  worst  and  to  provide  for 
it.  When  this  was  known,  laying  aside  every  other  sub 
ject  of  legislation  except  the  state  of  the  country,  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  adopted  unanimously,  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  the  following  resolution:— 

That  the  State  of  Connecticut  will  stand  by  the  old  flag,  and  will 
furnish  all  the  men  and  money  that  are  required  of  her,  to  put  down 
this  infamous  rebellion. 

It  was  a  legislature  of  universal  ability,  and  well  repre 
sented  both  the  wisdom  and  the  patriotism  of  the  State,  and 
from  this  time  forth  the  State  assumed,  with  new  confi 
dence  and  vigor,  the  heavy  responsibilities  that  had  fallen 
upon  her. 

Happily  when  this  Legislature  came  together  in  May,  it 
found  the  financial  resources  and  credit  of  the  State  in  as 
good  a  condition  as  its  patriotism.  The  London  Times, 
which  was  disposed  to  be  captious  about  most  of  our 
doings,  was  already  saying  that,  at  the  end  of  this 
first  year  of  the  war,  we  seemed  to  have  accomplished 
little  except  to  spend  an  unconscionable  amount  of  money. 
The  war,  to  be  sure,  was  far  from  an  end,  and  the  expendi 
tures  of  the  war  nobody  had  begun  to  conceive.  But  we 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  211 

intended  to  be  honest,  and  pay  even  our  war  debt,  instead 
of  leaving  it  as  a  consolidated  fund,  paying  only  interest, 
and  suffering  it  to  remain  a  tax  forever.  The  general 
government,  under  Secretary  Chasev  had  adopted  its 
admirable  system  of  banking  and  loans  which  carried  us 
successfully  through  the  war,  and  made  us  strong,  just 
where  the  Confederacy  utterly  broke  down.  And  the 
loyal  States,  co-operating  with  the  general  government  to 
make  its  financial  system  a  success,  and  lending  their 
credit,  as  Connecticut  did,  to  maintain  the  federal  credit, 
furnished  a  combination  of  financial  wisdom  and  strength, 
which  must  be  memorable  in  history.  This,  bo  it  re 
membered,  was  accomplished  without  any  reckless  confis 
cation  of  private  property,  or  misappropriation  of  public 
funds,  or  neglect  of  all  the  other  interests  of  a  State 
except  such  as  pertained  to  war. 

Governor  Buckingham's  message  to  the  Legislature  this 
year  shows  what  financial  ability  and  fidelity  were  manag 
ing  the  affairs  of  Connecticut  to  furnish  such  a  satisfactory 
exhibit  in  such  perplexing  circumstances.  Within  a  year 
he  had  turned  over  to  the  service  of  the  United  States 
13,576  troops,  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  all  com 
pletely  armed  and  equipped  for  service.  He  had  expended 
in  such  service  for  the  general  government  $1,516,505  and 
had  secured  an  interest-bearing  certificate  of  indebtedness 
from  the  United  States  treasury  for  $600,000,  expended  in 
behalf  of  the  general  government.  He  had  made  an 
arrangement  with  the  government  to  have  the  direct  war 
taxes  levied  upon  the  State,  assumed  by  the  State,  and 
collected  by  the  officers  of  the  State,  rather  than  by  officers 
of  the  general  government,  as  more  "  in  accordance  with 
the  views,  usages  and  business  interests  of  her  citizens'* 
as  well  as  at  less  cost  to  the  general  government.  He 
commends  the  new  internal  revenue  scheme,  and  though 
likely  to  "make  still  larger  demands  upon  the  pecuniary 


212  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

resources  of  the  State,"  he  assured  his  fellow-citizens  of 
"their  abundant  ability  to  meet  such  claims,  and  out  of 
the  profits  of  their  industry,  supply  the  public  treasury 
with  ample  means  to  prosecute  the  war,  and  furnish  a 
good  foundation  for  public  credit.  Sound  policy  dictates 
that  you  should  avail  yourselves  of  this  self-sacrificing 
patriotism  by  making  liberal  provision  to  meet  our  existing 
obligations."  Nor  were  these  the  only  interests  of  the 
State  looked  after,  and  carefully  managed.  The  State 
prison  was  about  made  to  pay  its  own  expenses ;  the 
Reform  School  for  juvenile  offenders  received  the  same 
appropriation  as  ever,  as  did  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane 
and  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  The  same  pro 
vision  was  made  for  the  blind  and  for  imbeciles,  and  for 
the  sick  in  the  State  Hospital,  while  nothing  could  exceed 
the  liberality  and  tender  care  bestowed  both  by  public 
appropriations  and  by  private  charities  upon  the  sufferers 
by  the  war.  While  Secession  States  were  entirely  neglect 
ing  their  educational  institutions,  if  not  sinking  their  funds 
for  such  purposes  in  the  abyss  of  their  rebellion,  this  State 
was  carefully  increasing  such  investments,  and  taxing 
herself  more  freely  than  ever  for  such  purposes.  The  Leg 
islature  of  Missouri,  though  the  State  never  succeeded 
in  getting  out  of  the  Union,  sunk  all  her  handsome 
school  fund  in  a  vain  attempt  to  do  so,  while  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut  was  reporting  that  her  school  fund,  which 
for  sixty  years  had  been  kept  intact  and  steadily  aug 
mented,  was  as  useful  as  ever,  and  that  with  all  the 
burdens  of  war,  "the  sum  raised  for  the  support  of  public 
schools  by  voluntary  taxation  had  been  more  than  doubled 
during  the  year."  No  wonder  this  message  secured  the 
confidence  of  the  people  in  the  leadership  of  the  Governor, 
for  it  not  only  showed  him  to  be  patriotic,  but  wise  and 
prudent ;  as  able  in  his  financial  management,  as  success 
ful  in  raising  troops;  as  mindful  of  all  the  interests  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  213 

Commonwealth,  as  of  its  liberties  and  the  necessity  of  the 
Union;  as  well  aware  of  the  perils  of  our  condition  and 
apprehensive  of  what  we  might  be  cabled  to  suffer,  as 
he  was  confident  of  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  what 
we  might  expect  to  accomplish  in  a  cause  so  righteous. 
While  he  summons  the  people  to  his  side  in  such  clarion 
tones,  it  is  with  no  concealment  of  the  battle  scenes  that 
lie  before  them,  where  if  they  do  not  fall  themselves,  they 
will  bury  together  in  common  grief  and  glory,  their  dear 
est  sons  and  noblest  heroes.  "To  press  this  contest  to  a 
final  settlement,  more  prolonged  and  vigorous  efforts  may 
be  required,  and  more  costly  sacrifices  demanded.  Other 
years  of  anxiety,  and  labor,  and  pecuniary  embarrassment 
may  intervene;  the  burdens  of  taxation  may  still  be 
heavier;  the  battles  of  Roanoke  Island,  Donelson  and 
Pittsburg  Landing  may  be  again  fought  on  the  mountains 
of  Virginia  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi;  blood, 
which  has  ever  been  the  price  of  liberty,  may  flow  more 
copiously  in  new  fields  of  strife  and  carnage;  the  lives  of 
other  sons,  even  the  life  of  Benjamin,  may  be  required  on 
the  altar  of  our  common  country;  these  penalties  so  severe, 
these  sacrifices  so  heart-rending;  the  results  of  this  unholy 
rebellion  against  constitutional  liberty,  are  monuments 
established  by  the  providence  of  God,  as  a  warning  to  all 
coming  generations  against  the  repetition  of  the  damning 
crime.  By  such  efforts  and  such  sacrifices,  the  sword, 
under  Divine  guidance,  will  render  a  just  decision,  and  re 
turn  to  its  scabbard." 

By  April  of  this  year,  within  twelve  months  after  the 
rebellion  broke  out,  the  cause  of  the  Union  had  gained 
such  strength  and  made  such  progress  that  the  Northern 
States  were  greatly  encouraged,  and  began  to  expect  that 
another  year  would  end  the  struggle.  The  blockade  had 
pretty  well  sealed  up  the  Southern  ports,  and  with  the  diffi 
culty  of  importing  supplies  for  the  people  at  home  and  of 


214  WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM. 

exporting  cotton  to  sustain  the  credit  of  the  Confederacy 
abroad,  the  financial  prospects  of  the  South  were  becoming 
dark.  The  Federal  government  had  also  taken  possession 
of  Hatteras  Inlet,  and  the  country  stretching  back  for  150 
miles  into  North  Carolina.  It  was  occupying  the  fine 
harbor  of  Fort  Royal,  just  in  the  rear  of  both  Charleston 
and  Savannah.  It  had  possessed  itself  of  Fort  Pulaski, 
which  commanded  the  port  of  Savannah.  Admiral  Farra- 
gut  was  just  forcing  his  way  past  the  defenses  of  New 
Orleans,  and  within  a  few  days  General  Butler's  land  forces 
would  be  holding  secure  possession  of  that  bitterly  hostile 
city.  Commodore  Foote  had  organized  his  invulnerable 
gunboat  fleet  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  with  which  he  had 
cleared  the  way  for  General  Grant  to  take  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson  and  win  that  desperate  victory  at  Pittsburgh 
Landing,  and  with  which  he  himself  had  reduced  those 
formidable  works  on  Island  No.  10,  scattered  everything 
before  him  in  his  attack  upon  Memphis,  and  virtually  anni 
hilated  the  whole  Confederate  navy  above  Vicksburg. 
Finally  the  construction  and  arrival  of  the  Monitor  at  For 
tress  Monroe,  to  forever  deliver  us  from  the  fear  of  Con 
federate  ironclads,  and  save  us  from  the  loss  of  that  bay 
and  connecting  waters,  was  an  event  of  such  importance  in 
the  history  of  the  war,  as  greatly  to  brighten  our  prospects. 
It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  ^North  heartily 
responded  to  the  recommendation  of  the  President  and  the 
loyal  governors  to  observe  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  to 
Almighty  God  for  the  advance  of  their  cause  and  the  flat 
tering  prospects  of  the  Union. 

And  yet  at  this  very  time  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 
about  to  meet  with  its  worst  defeat,  and  this  to  be  succeeded 
by  the  invasion  of  the  free  States  and  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
which  though  not  a  defeat  was  barely  a  victory,  and  to  be 
followed  by  three  years  more  of  such  taxation,  volunteering, 
fighting,  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  mourning  all  over  the 


WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM.  215 

North  as  well  as  at  the  South,  as  had  never  been  conceived  of. 
But  by  this  time  the  free  States,  like  Connecticut,  had  made 
up  their  minds  that,  cost  what  it  might,  the  sacrifice  must 
be  made,  and  there  was  110  drawing  back. 

General  McClellan  had  succeeded  General  Scott  as  com- 
rnander-in-chief  of  the  army.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  though  of  Connecticut  stock,  being  a  great-grandson 
of  Captain  McClellan,  who  represented  Connecticut  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  He  had  been  educated  at  West 
Point,  where  Generals  Burnside  and  Reno  on  the  Union 
side,  and  General  Stonewall  Jackson  among  the  Confed 
erates,  were  his  classmates,  and  where  he  led  his  class  in 
mathematics.  He  had  also  been  sent  as  a  member  of  a 
military  commission  to  report  on  the  condition  of  the 
armies  of  Europe,  and  observe  the  operations  of  both  sides 
in  the  Crimean  war,  and  his  report  of  the  "Armies  of 
Europe "  is  regarded  as  "  a  model  of  fullness,  accuracy, 
and  system."  At  the  head  of  the  Ohio  volunteers  he  was 
so  successful  after  a  brief  campaign  in  driving  the  Con 
federate  forces  out  of  Western  Virginia,  that,  with  his 
accomplishments,  brief  experience  and  remarkable  suc 
cess,  his  promotion  to  the  head  of  the  army  was  received 
with  general  approval,  and  not  a  little  enthusiasm.  No 
doubt  more  was  expected  of  him  than  it  was  in  the  power 
of  any  man  to  accomplish,  but  he  had  qualities,  attainments 
and  a  character  which  justified  the  highest  expectations. 
He  was  also  a  man  of  pure  morals,  deeply  religious,  win 
ning  in  his  manners,  sincere  in  his  friendships,  and  devoted 
to  the  welfare  of  his  soldiers. 

He  was  the  idol  of  his  officers  and  men,  who  would  obey  him  when 
all  other  control  had  failed.  ltln  the  opinion  of  many,  however,"  it 
is  added,  "he  was  unduly  careful  of  his  troops,  so  that  his  power  to 
organize  was  neutralized  by  his  caution  in  the  field." — [Appleton's 
Bioyrapttical  Dictionary. 


216  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

When  General  McClellan  was  summoned  to  Washington, 
just  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  put  in  command  of 
all  the  Union  armies,  it  was  to  take  personal  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  reorganize  it,  and  also  to 
provide  a  suitable  system  of  fortifications  for  the  defense 
of  the  national  capital.  For  this  he  was  well  qualified ; 
better  qualified  probably  than  any  other  officer  of  the  army, 
and  in  both  these  respects  he  accomplished  his  work  with 
the  greatest  dispatch.  As  yet  the  national  capital  had 
been  provided  with  no  suitable  defenses,  and  for  a  consider 
able  time  the  city  could  have  been  bombarded  from  the 
Georgetown  Heights,  and  all  its  public  buildings  laid  in 
ruins.  This  was  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  for 
what  it  implied,  and  for  the  use  that  would  have  been  made 
of  it,  rather  than  for  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  pos 
session  of  the  city,  for  it  had  been  burned  in  the  war  of 
1812,  without  changing  at  all  the  result  of  that  war.  But 
such  an  achievement  by  the  Confederates  would  have  been 
likely  to  secure  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Confederacy 
abroad,  as  an  established  power,  and  to  open  the  Southern 
ports  to  foreign  commerce.  The  satisfactory  completion  of 
this  work,  therefore,  so  in  accordance  with  the  starting 
point  of  the  administration  in  all  its  military  operations, 
that  the  safety  of  the  capital  must  be  first  assured,  served 
to  increase  the  reputation  of  the  new  general,  and  raise 
still  higher  the  hopes  of  the  nation  in  regard  to  him. 
Besides  he  had  thoroughly  reorganized  and  put  a  new 
spirit  into  his  army.  Its  condition  as  he  found  it  was  any 
thing  but  hopeful  and  inspiring. 

"  I  was  suddenly  called  to  Washington,"  he  says,  "  on  the  day  suc 
ceeding  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  found  myself  assigned  to  the 
command  of  that  city,  and  of  the  troops  gathered  around  it.  All 
was  chaos  and  despondency,  the  city  was  filled  with  intoxicated 
stragglers,  and  an  attack  was  expected.  The  troops  numbered  less 
than  50,000,  many  of  whom  were  so  demoralized  and  undisciplined 
that  they  could  not  be  relied  upon  even  for  defensive  purposes. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  217 

Moreover,  the  term  of  service  of  a  large  part  had  already  expired,  or 
was  on  the  point  of  doing  so."— [Century  Company's  "  War  Book  " 
Vol.  II,  p.  160. 

And  yet  within  three  months  he  had  collected  a  force  of 
134,255  men  and  nearly  300  guns,  and  was  furnishing  the  men 
with  every  possible  equipment  and  drilling  them  thoroughly 
in  the  best  tactics  of  modern  military  schools.  Within  six 
months  after  he  took  the  army  in  charge — or  February  1, 
1862— not  long  before  he  set  out  on  his  Peninsular  cam 
paign,  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  well-organized  body  of 
222,196  troops,  190,000  of  them  present  for  duty.  Though 
these  were  not  veterans,  they  were  probably  as  good  mate 
rial,  as  well  drilled,  better  equipped  and  more  generously 
supplied  with  all  they  could  need  in  a  campaign,  than  any 
other  army  of  the  size  that  ever  went  into  the  field.  Every 
thing  had  been  done  to  aid  the  young  commander  in  this 
work.  He  was  the  favorite  of  General  Scott,  whom  he 
succeeded.  He  was  the  hope  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  after  all  his 
perplexities  and  disappointments  in  selecting  commanders 
for  his  armies.  Mr.  Stanton,  who  had  succeeded  Mr. 
Cameron  as  Secretary  of  War,  gave  him  the  benefit  of  his 
great  strength  and  determination,  and  furnished  him  with 
recruits  ad  libitum.  The  North,  having  given  up  the  idea 
of  a  short  war  and  nine-months'  men,  was  going  in  for  the 
war,  however  long  it  might  last,  and  enlisting  as  never 
before.  And  when  General  McClellan  marched  this  superb 
army  out  toward  the  enemy's  lines  at  Manassas,  as  he  did 
in  the  spring  of  1862,  it  seemed  as  if  he  might  have  pushed 
right  on  to  Richmond,  for  there  was  certainly  no  such  army 
before  him  to  prevent  it,  or  fortifications  to  check  it. 

But  now  came  that  sad  period  of  hesitancy  and  delay 
and  differences  of  opinion  among  the  officers  of  the  army 
and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  as  to  the  plan  of  the  cam 
paign.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  been  doing  nothing 
font  recruiting  for  the  last  six  months,  which  was  perhaps 


218  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

all  that  it  could  do,  and  was  certainly  the  best  thing  under 
the  circumstances.  But  our  military  and  naval  successes 
elsewhere  were  not  sufficient,  so  long  as  the  Confederate 
army  was  confronting  us,  and  threatening  to  invade  the 
Northern  States,  if  not  to  obtain  possession  of  Washington. 
The  enlistment  also  of  so  many  able-bodied  men,  was  not 
only  a  heavy  draft  upon  the  patriotism,  as  well  as  the 
industry  of  the  people,  but  the  war  expenses  were  rolling 
up  a  debt  which  threatened  to  break  down  our  national 
credit,  if  not  to  become  a  tax  upon  the  country  forever,  as 
had  been  the  case  with  other  governments.*  In  such 
a  state  of  things  it  had  become  a  necessity  that  this  fine 
army  should  be  put  to  some  use.  The  people  were  expect 
ing  it;  the  press  was  demanding  it;  the  President  and  his 
cabinet  were  endeavoring  to  effect  it.  But  General  Mc- 
Clellan  and  the  government  with  its  military  advisers, 
could  not  agree  upon  the  plan  of  the  campaign.  He 
wanted  to  move  upon  Richmond  by  the  way  of  the 
Peninsula.  They,  for  the  most  part,  preferred  an  ad 
vance  from  the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  across  the 
North  and  South  Anna  rivers,  the  route  which  General 
Grant  afterwards  took.  President  Lincoln  was  anxious 
to  conform  to  the  judgment  and  gratify  the  wishes  of 
the  promising  commander  whom  he  had  placed  in  this 
position.  And  after  stating  his  objections,  and  suggesting 
plans  which  seemed  preferable  to  himself  and  to  others, 
with  the  distinct  stipulation  that  Washington  should  never 
be  left  uncovered,  but  always  protected  by  the  30,000  or 
40,000  troops  required  to  properly  man  the  fortifications 
already  erected,  he  gave  his  assent  to  General  McClellan's 

*  The  cost  of  conducting  the  war,  after  it  was  fully  inaugurated,  was  scarcely 
at  any  time  less  than  $30,000,000  a  month.  At  many  times  it  far  exceeded  that 
amount.  Sometimes  it  was  not  less  than  $90.000,000  a  month  ;  and  the  average 
expenses  of  the  war,  from  its  inception  to  its  conclusion,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
about  $2,000,000  each  day.  The  public  debt  reached  its  maximum  on  August  31, 
18C5,  on  which  day  it  amounted  to  $2,845,907,626.56 —[./  Q.  Knox,*  United  State* 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  219 

plan.  Then  he  set  about  urging  on  and  helping  to  carry 
out  this  plan,  as  earnestly  as  if  it  had  been  the  one  of 
his  own  choice.  General  McClellan  must  have  all  the 
troops  he  wanted,  and  he  must  have  all  the  supplies  he 
needed ;  but  he  must  take  the  field.  While  the  Western 
armies,  and  our  armies  in  the  South,  and  our  navy,  had 
all  been  doing  their  work  well,  this  Army  of  the  Potomac 
had  accomplished  nothing,  and  indeed  had  attempted 
nothing  since  its  defeat  at  Bull  Run.  No  longer  could  in 
action  be  tolerated,  especially  with  the  army  in  its  enlarged 
and  improved  condition,  and  with  its  able  and  popular 
commander. 

Here  the  correspondence  between  General  McClellan  and 
the  government,  which  is  so  abundant,  sheds  the  fullest 
light  upon  the  whole  campaign,  and  discloses,  as  nothing 
else  could,  the  character  of  the  principal  men  conducting 
it,  particularly  the  President  and  his  Commander-in-chief. 
When  autumn  came  and  before  winter  set  in,  there  was  a 
general  expectation  that  the  Potomac  army  would  take  the 
field,  and  General  McClellan  expresses  this  as  his  coufident 
intention,  and  with  high  expectations  of  inflicting  "a 
crushing  defeat  upon  the  rebel  army  at  Manassas,  not  to  be 
postponed  beyond  the  25th  of  November,  if  possible  to 
avoid  it."  But  when  the  autumn  had  passed,  with  beautiful 
weather  for  campaigning,  and  winter  had  set  in  and  was 
passing  too,  with  nothing  more  than  the  camp  drill  of  the 
army  and  imposing  reviews,  and  spring  had  fairly  arrived 
and  the  government  was  becoming  more  and  more  anxious 
as  to  how  long  the  country  would  bear  such  a  draft  of  men, 
or  the  treasury  could  endure  such  war  expenses,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  determined  to  get  the  army  into  the  field  and  at  work, 
if  possible.  He  counseled  it ;  he  urged  it  as  a  necessity ; 
he  commanded  it.  He  wrote  private  letters  to  General 
McClellan,  full  of  useful  suggestions  and  encouragement. 
He  let  him  have  his  own  way  in  regard  to  plans  which  he 


220  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

never  approved  of,  and  engaged  to  furnish  him  with  all  the 
troops  he  asked  for,  and  was  only  prevented  from  furnish 
ing  any  of  them  by  the  dangers  that  threatened  elsewhere.* 
But  move,  that  army  must,  as  the  President  orders,  through 
the  Secretary  of  War,  March  8,  1862. 

1.  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it  entirely 
certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  repossess  himself  of  that  position 
and  line  of  communication. 

2.  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

3.  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down  the  Potomac,  choosing  a 
new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere  between  here  and  there — 
or  at  all  events,  move  such  remainder  of  the  army  at  once  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy  by  some  route. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

In  a  personal  letter  to  General  McClellan  a  little  later, 
when  he  was  encamped  before  Yorktown,  the  President 
writes  :— 

And  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to  you  thnt  you 
strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You  will  do  me  the  jus 
tice  to  remember,  I  always  insisted  that  going  down  the  bay  in  search 
of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near  Manassas,  was  only  shifting 
and  not  surmounting  a  difficulty;  that  we  would  find  the  same  enemy, 
and  the  same  or  equal  entrenchments,  at  either  place.  The  country 
will  not  fail  to  note,  is  noting  now,  that  the  present  hesitation  to 
move  upon  an  entrenched  enemy,  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas 
repeated.— [Letter  of  April  9. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  at  last  to  move;  it  was 
to  move  upon  Richmond  by  the  way  of  the  Peninsula — 
between  the  James  and  York  rivers.  Norfolk  and  its  navy 
yard  were  then  in  possession  of  the  Confederates,  with  the 
formidable  "Merrimac,"  which  had  inflicted  such  injury 
upon  our  navy,  (though  the  one  was  blown  up,  and  the 
other  burned  soon  after,)  so  that  the  York  river  had  to  be 

*  This  refers  to  General  McClellan's  complaint  to  the  President  that  he  had  not 
furnished  him  with  all  the  troops  he  promised,  meaning  General  McDowell's  corps 
of  30,000  men,  detached  from  the  forces  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  which 
had  to  be  detained  for  the  defense  of  Washington,  though  a  considerable  portion 
of  them  reached  the  Potomac  army  before  that  campaign  was  over,  and  were  of 
essential!  service  in  its  operations. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  221 

depended  upon  for  the  transportation  of  army  supplies^ 
which  were  afterwards  transferred  to  the  James.  The 
expedition  was  to  set  out  from  Fortress  Monroe,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Peninsula,  and  everything  to  be  collected 
about  this  point,  and  sent  up  the  York  river  to  the  White 
House,  which  became  our  base  of  supplies  until  the 
James  was  opened,  and  this  base  was  changed  to  Harri 
son's  Landing.  When  the  army  set  out,  it  was  composed 
of  not  less  than  70,000  or  80,000  troops,  and  as  officially 
reported  within  a  month  afterwards,  as  it  lay  before 
Yorktown,  its  numbers  had  been  swollen  to  130,000,  of 
whom  112,000  were  present,  fit  for  duty.  There  were 
veterans  enough  among  them;  whole  divisions  and  corps 
who  had  served  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah  and 
elsewhere,  and  under  such  commanders  as  Fitz  John 
Porter,  Hooker,  Sumner  and  others  like  them,  who  were 
not  likely  to  give  a  poor  account  of  themselves  in  any 
emergency.  They  had  at  least  one  arm  of  the  service 
at  their  command,  which  never  had  its  equal;  a  train 
of  sixty  heavy  siege  guns,  which  saved  the  army  from 
annihilation  at  Malvern  Hill,  and  afterwards  proved  our 
make-weight  in  more  than  one  crisis  of  the  war.  *  Such 
a  collection  of  men  and  animals,  artillery  and  wagons, 
baggage  and  forage,  and  supplies  of  every  description, 
was  never  brought  together  for  any  other  expedition,  f  It 
required  a  whole  fleet  of  vessels  and  weeks  of  time  to 
collect  all  these  troops  and  supplies  from  every  quarter, 
and  land  them  on  the  Peninsula,  nearest  the  army.  And 
when  moved  by  land,  we  do  not  wonder  that  their  long 


*  We  refer  to  the  siege  train  furnished  for  this  expedition  by  the  First  Connecti 
cut  Heavy  Artillery,  which  the  Count  de  Paris,  as  a  military  critic,  commends  so 
highly  for  its  organization  and  effectiveness. 

tWThen  the  movement  by  Fortress  Monroe  was  determined  upon,  there  were 
chartered  113  steamers,  188  schooners  and  88  barges,  with  which  in  thirty  -seven 
days  there  were  transported  to  Fortress  Monroe  121,500  men,  14,592  animals,  1,150 
wagons,  44  batteries  and  74  ambulances,  besides  a  vast  quantity  of  equipage. — 
1  Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  2.  p.  378. 


222  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

trains  sometimes  stretched  thirty  or  forty  miles  on  those 
single  roads,  and  seriously  interfered  with  the  most  im 
portant  military  movements.  And  yet  we  are  surprised, 
when  we  come  to  read  of  the  fabulous  amount  of  sup 
plies  destroyed  on  our  retreat,  to  save  them  from  the 
enemy  ;  of  whole  freight  trains  run  into  the  river;  of  a 
complete  ammunition  train  driven  into  a  burning  bridge 
to  destroy  the  ammunition;  and  of  arms  enough  left  be 
hind  to  arm  whole  regiments  of  the  enemy.  It  really 
seems  as  if  our  wealth  of  supplies  was  the  hindrance 
to  our  advance,  and  that  if  we  had  not  waited  for  them 
all  we  might  have  reached  Richmond  sooner. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PENINSULAR  CAMPAIGN. 


The  Magnificent  Army  of  the  Potomac  —  Its  Movement  on  Richmond 
by  Way  of  the  Peninsula  —  The  Retreat  Across  the  Chickahominy 
—The  Week  of  Battles—  Malvern  Hill. 

It  was  the  4th  of  April,  1862,  when  General  McClellan 
with  his  grand  army  set  out  for  Richmond.  As  so  much  was 
expected  from  this  expedition  —  the  capture  of  Richmond, 
and  most  likely  the  closing  up  of  the  war  —  and  as  the 
Eastern  States  had  been  recruiting  this  army,  and  Connec 
ticut  and  her  Governor  had  taken  a  noble  part  in  it,  its 
operations  assumed  the  deepest  importance  to  them,  as 
they  soon  did  to  all.  For  the  next  three  months  the  anxi 
ety  and  anguish  caused  by  this  campaign  absorbed  the  in 
terest  of  the  country,  and  Richmond  no  less  than  Washing 
ton,  and  the  South  equally  with  New  England,  thrilled  with 
every  telegraphic  dispatch,  until  it  seemed  as  if  that  last 
"  week  of  battles,"  with  each  succeeding  day  of  fiercer  light 
ing  and  deadlier  loss,  would  break  the  nation's  heart. 

The  distance  from  Fortress  Monroe  to  Richmond  was 
seventy  miles  in  a  direct  line.  Two  or  three  days  brought 
the  army  to  Yorktown,  where  the  British  army  surrendered 
to  the  combined  troops  of  France  and  the  Colonies,  and 
our  war  of  the  Revolution  was  closed.  The  old  fortifi 
cations  remained,  and  these  enlarged  and  strengthened 
would  have  commanded  the  Peninsula  pretty  well,  if  the 
Confederate  force  had  been  sufficient  to  man  them  prop 
erly.  But  General  Magruder  had  not  more  than  eight 
thousand  troops  for  that  purpose,  and  he  had  been  ordered 
to  withdraw  them  as  our  army  approached.  He,  bow- 


224 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


ever,  was  determined  to  maintain  his  position  if  possible,, 
knowing  that  his  disobedience  would  be  pardoned  if  suc 
cessful.     So    by   his   incessant  activity  and  bold  show  of 
resistance,    General    McClellan    was    deterred     from    an 
assault,   and   deliberately    sat   down    before   the   place   to 
reduce  it  by  a  regular  siege.     An  entire  month  was  occu 
pied  in  this,  when  the  success  of  the  expedition  depended 
upon    dispatch.     Richmond    was    in   no    proper    state   of 
defense.     The  Confederacy  was  particularly  exhausted  of 
troops  and  funds,  and  discouraged  by  the  Union  successes. 
Then  some  of  her  best  troops  and  commanders  had  been 
ordered  elsewhere,  like  Stonewall  Jackson  to  the  Shenan- 
doah  valley,  to  draw  away  more  of  our  force  from  Wash 
ington.*     General  McClellan's  chief  engineer  through  the 
campaign,   reports   to   his  commander  at  the  close,  that 
it  was  a  mistake  not  to  have  assaulted  those  works  at  once, 
instead    of   subjecting   the    army    to   such    hardships    and 
toil  in  the  trenches,  and  such  malarial  sickness  in  those 
swamps,  and    allowing  the   enemy    so    much    time    to  re 
cover  their  courage,  gather  their  forces  arid  commanders 
from   a  distance,  and  even  pass  and  enforce   a  conscrip 
tion   law    within   this    and    the   following    month.     These 
siege    works    were    completed,   and    on    the   6th    of    May 
were  to  have  opened  upon  the  enemy,  when  it  was  found 
that  he  had  quietly  withdrawn. 

*  At  the  time  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  landed  on  the  Peninsula,  the  Rebel 
cause  was  at  its  lowest  ebb ;  its  armies  were  demoralized  by  the  defeats  of  Port 
Royal,  Mill  Spring,  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Roanoke  Island  and  Pea  Kid<*e  • 
and  reduced  by  sickness,  loss  in  battle,  expirations  of  period  of  service,  etc. ;  while 
the  conscription  law  was  not  yet  even  passed.  It  seemed  as  if  it  needed  but  one 
vigorous  gripe  to  end  forever  this  rebellion,  so  nearly  throttled.  How  then 
happened  it,  that  the  day  of  the  initiation  of  the  campaign  of  this  magnificent 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  the  day  of  the  resuscitation  of  the  Rebel  cause  which 
seemed  to  gro  w  pari  passu,  with  the  slow  progress  of  its  operations? 

Our  troops  toiled  a  month  in  the  trenches,  or  lay  in  the  swamps  of  Warwick  •  we 
lost  few  men  by  the  siege;  but  disease  took  a  fearful  hold  of  the  army;' and 
toil  and  hardship  unredeemed  by  the  excitement  of  combat,  impaired  their  moral,. 
We  did  not  carry  with  us  from  Yorktown  so  good  an  army  as  we  took  there  Of 
the  bitter  fruits  of  that  month  gained  by  the  enemy,  we  have  tasted  to  our  heart'-* 
conte»t.—  Gen.ralJohn  O.  Barnard's  Report—"  Oreetey,1'  Vol.  2,  p.  122. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  225 

The  army  then  moved  on  to  Williamsburg,  where  it 
encountered  more  serious  opposition.  The  Confederate 
army,  under  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  was  being  vigor 
ously  re-enforced  with  Longstreet's  division  of  their  main 
army  and  Jackson's  veterans  from  the  valley  of  the  Shen- 
andoah,  and  several  of  the  best  of  their  commanders. 
When  General  Johnston  was  severely  wounded  soon  after 
at  Fair  Oaks,  General  Robert  E.  Lee  took  command,  and 
he  gathered  about  him  the  best  military  advisers  of  the 
Confederacy.  At  times  President  Davis  was  upon  the  field, 
if  he  did  not  personally  command  in  some  of  the  battles. 
At  any  rate,  our  army  had  no  sooner  approached  Williams- 
burg,  than  they  found  themselves  confronted  by  Longstreet, 
occupying  a  formidable  series  of  redoubts,  from  which  we, 
without  any  knowledge  of  the  position  or  the  force  holding 
it,  undertook  to  dislodge  them,  with  heavy  loss.  General 
"McClellan  was  not  at  hand,  having  remained  behind  to  for 
ward  the  army.  Of  the  corps  commanders,  General  Stone- 
man  of  the  cavalry,  suffering  from  the  fire  of  the  redoubts, 
and  obliged  to  leave  one  of  his  guns  stuck  immovably  in 
the  swamp,  had  retired  a  little  to  wait  for  the  infantry, 
when  General  Sumner,  whose  rank  gave  him  the  command, 
hearing  the  battle,  pushed  on,  and  was  all  ready  to  take 
part  in  it,  when  "  darkness  shut  him  in,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  wait  for  the  morning.  Insisting  upon  reconnoitering 
the  enemy's  position  in  person,  he  fell  among  their  pickets, 
was  fired  upon  at  short  range,  became  lost  in  a  swamp 
from  which  he  was  unable  to  extricate  himself,  and  passed 
the  entire  night  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  between  the  two  hos 
tile  lines."  But  General  Hooker  was  at  hand  the  next 
morning,  and  though  he  could  obtain  no  orders  he 
began  his  work  early,  and  sustained  the  fight  alone  for 
nine  long  hours,  and  until  he  had  been  obliged  to  engage 
his  very  last  men  and  supply  them  with  ammunition  from 
their  fallen  comrades.  Fortunately,  toward  the  middle  of 


226  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  afternoon,  General  Kearney  appeared  with  his  division 
and  pressed  to  the  front,  allowing  General  Hooker's  thinned 
regiments  to  withdraw  and  be  held  as  a  reserve,  while  he  at 
this  point,  and  General  Hancock  on  his  right,  by  desperate 
fighting  held  the  Confederates  back  until  the  next  morning, 
when  they  had  abandoned  their  position.  This  first  check, 
however,  had  been  attended  with  fearful  loss,  particularly 
to  General  Hooker's  division,  who  reports  it  at  1,575  killed, 
wounded  and  missing.  General  McClellan  makes  the  total 
loss  that  day  2,228. 

It  was  now  two  months  since  the  Potomac  army  set  out 
for  Richmond,  but  it  was  only  halfway  there,  and  had  only 
fought  its  first  battle,  and  was  about  to  plunge  into  the 
swamps  of  the  Chickahominy,  which  seem  an  unheard- 
of  place  for  campaigning  with  siege  trains  and  batteries  of 
heavy  artillery.  This  stream,  which  comes  within  four  or. 
five  miles  of  Richmond  and  runs  off  toward  the  southeast, 
is  at  its  ordinary  stage  not  more  than  fifty  feet  wide, 
fringed  with  a  dense  growth  of  forest  trees,  and  bordered 
by  low,  marshy  lands,  varying  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile 
in  width.  It  is  subject  to  sudden  and  great  freshets,  and  a 
violent  storm,  however  brief,  swells  the  stream  and  over 
flows  those  bottom  lands,  until  it  is  impassable  except  by 
long  and  strong  bridges.  The  whole  surrounding  country 
will  be  more  or  less  under  water,  and  woe  to  troops  that 
get  caught  at  a  disadvantage  in  trying  to  push  their  col 
umns,  especially  with  their  baggage  trains  and  heavy  bat 
teries,  through  the  pitfalls  of  such  a  region. 

At  the  time  of  this  advance  on  Richmond  the  cause  of  the  Confed 
eracy  was  at  a  low  ebb.  Norfolk  had  been  taken  and  burned,  and 
nothing  but  the  works  at  Drury's  Bluff  prevented  the  James  river 
from  being  open  up  to  the  city.  The  danger  then  was  felt  to  be  so 
great  that  the  archives  were  shipped  to  Columbia,  S.  C.,  and  the 
Public  treasures  were  kept  on  cars  ready  for  removal.  The  city  was 
Lot  fortified,  and  there  were  few  troops  there.  Before  McClellan 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  2^7 

was  near  the  city,  troops  had  been  assembled  in  large  numbers  and 
fortifications  thrown  up  on  the  side  that  was  threatened. — "War 
Book,"  Vol.  II,  p.  263. 

The  Confederacy  put  its  army  under  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  one  of  their  ablest  generals,  to  be  succeeded 
by  General  Lee.  It  called  to  their  aid  such  men  as 
Stonewall  Jackson,  Longstreet,  Ewell  and  the  Hills.  And 
they  brought  with  them  large  numbers  of  veteran  troops, 
as  well  as  raw  conscripts.  Jackson  brought  with  him 
30,000  of  such  veterans.  The  Confederates  were  for  a 
long  time  perplexed  to  divine  McClellan's  plans,  and 
when  they  did,  had  he  not  changed  them,  it  seems  as 
ii  they  would  have  involved  the  loss  of  his  whole  army. 
He  set  out  to  go  to  Richmond  along  the  north  side  of 
the  Chick ahominy,  and  at  one  time  his  advance  was 
within  four  miles  of  the  city.  But  in  doing  so,  he  had 
allowed  his  army  to  be  divided  by  the  river.  He  had 
posted  two-thirds  of  his  army  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Chickahominy  and  left  the  other  third  on  the  south  side, 
between  which  there  could  be  no  communication  except 
across  that  uncertain  stream  and  those  unstable  bridges; 
even  then  they  must  march  a  dozen  miles  to  make  any 
connection,  while  the  Confederates  in  front  of  Richmond 
had  only  to  march  four  or  five  miles  to  support  any  of 
their  movements.  Johnston  was  quick  to  take  advantage 
of  this  situation.  Leaving  only  six  brigades  to  hold  in 
check  the  bulk  of  our  army  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river,  he  launched  the  other  twenty-eight  brigades  of 
his  army  upon  the  two  corps  of  Heintzelman  and  Keyes 
on  the  south  side,  enough  to  crush  them  with  mere 
weight  of  numbers,  had  it  not  been  for  the  prompt  and 
magnanimous  succor  they  received  from  General  Sum- 
ner.  He  had  been  ordered  to  render  them  assistance 
should  they  need  it,  but  without  waiting  until  they  did 
need  it,  he  prepared  to  furnish  it.  He  built  two  bridges 


228  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

across  the  swollen  river,  one  of  which  was  at  once  car 
ried  away,  and  the  other  was  almost  submerged.  But 
he  was  already  upon  it  with  his  troops  and  batteries, 
holding  it  down  by  their  very  weight  until  his  support 
was  demanded,  when,  plunging  into  the  mud  beyond, 
where  his  heavier  artillery  stuck  fast,  only  to  be  extri 
cated  and  sent  forward  by  morning,  he  pushed  on  with  his 
infantry  in  the  direction  of  the  firing  to  encounter  the  last 
Confederate  charge,  in  which  our  troops,  after  a  day  of  hard 
fighting,  had  been  driven  back  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  but 
for  which  we  had  lost  that  all-important  battle.  As  show 
ing  the  severity  of  the  fighting,  as  well  as  its  influence  upon 
the  campaign,  it  is  enough  to  know  that  on  the  Confederate 
side  General  Pettigrew  was  wounded,  supposed  to  be  mor 
tally,  and  taken  prisoner,  and  General  Hatton  killed  at  his 
side ;  also  General  Hampton  was  severely  wounded,  while 
General  Johnston,  chief  in  command,  and  conducting  the 
whole  campaign,  was  twice  wounded  and  taken  from  the 
field,  no  more  to  resume  command  ;  while  on  our  side,  out 
of  Keyes'  corps  of  12,000  men,  4,000  were  dead  or  wounded 
three  hours  after  the  first  day's  fight  began.  This  check 
led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  object  of  the  expedition — 
the  capture  of  Richmond — and  finally  forced  upon  us  that 
disastrous  retreat  which  almost  annihilated  our  magnifi 
cent  army. 

Here  the  campaign  reached  its  crisis.  The  plans  of  both 
commanders  had  failed.  That  adopted  by  General  Johns 
ton,  and  to  have  been  carried  out  by  General  Lee,  was,  • 
when  they  found  our  army  divided  by  the  river,  to  hold 
one  portion  of  it  in  check  by  an  inferior  force,  and  with  a 
superior  force  herd  and  drive  the  other  portion  down  the 
Chickahominy,  cut  them  off  from  their  base  of  supplies  on 
the  York  river,  and  capture  them  all  at  their  leisure.  The 
plan  barely  failed  of  success.  As  it  was,  on  the  second 
day  our  troops  reoccupied  the  ground  they  had  lost,  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  229 

after  a  little  fighting  under  General  Lee  the  battle  died 
away  by  the  gradual  retirement  of  the  Confederates.  But 
General  McClellan  made  no  movement  in  advance  upon 
Richmond.  This  has  been  thought  to  have  been  his  great 
opportunity. 

Jackson  was  still  in  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  detaching  from 
Lee  an  army  of  16,000  men.  The  enemy  had  thrown  almost  his 
whole  force  against  McClellan's  left  wing  and  had  received  more 
injury  than  he  inflicted.  Our  right  wing  was  intact,  the  material  for 
bridging  the  upper  Chickahominy  had  been  ready  for  three  days,  tho 
Confederate  army  was  streaming  back  to  Richmond  in  discourage 
ment  and  disorder.— [Nicolay  &  Hay,  in  "  The  Century"  of  October 
1888,  p.  933. 

And  the  Prince  do  Joinville,  McClellan's  ardent  friend,  is 
quoted  as  saying  that  he  had  missed  "  an  unique  oppor 
tunity  of  striking  a  blow."  General  Barnard,  General 
McClellan's  chief  engineer,  was  also  of  the  same  opinion.* 
It  was  three  weeks  before  General  McClellan  advanced, 
and  then  he  continued  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  only 
to  find  that  General  Lee  had  used  the  time  to  fortify  Rich 
mond  and  collect  an  army  almost  equal  to  his  own.  Then 
came  the  "  week  of  battles,"  terrible  in  loss  on  both  sides, 
and  fruitless  of  results. 

The  "  week  of  battles  "  has  been  conveniently  arranged 
for  reference  by  Draper,  as  follows  : — 

The  First  Day— Thursday,   26th  of  June— Mechanics ville  or  Beaver 

Dam. 
The  Second  Day— Friday,  27th  of  June— The  Chickahominy,  Games' 

Mill,  or  Cold  Harbor. 

The  Third  Day— Saturday,  28th  of  June— The  retreat. 
The  Fourth  Day— Sunday,  29th  of  June— Savage  Station. 
The  Fifth  Day— Monday,  30th  of  June— Frazier's  Farm. 

*  The  repulse  of  the  rebels  at  Fair  Oaks  should  have  been  taken  advantage  of. 
It  was  one  of  those  "occasions"  which,  if  not  seized,  do  not  repeat  themselves, 
We  now  know  the  state  of  disorganization  and  dismay  in  which  the  rebel  army 
retreated.  We  now  know  that  it  could  have  been  followed  into  Richmond.  Had 
it  been  so,  there  would  have  been  no  resistance  to  overcome  to  bring  over  our  right 
wing.— ["  Century."  November.  1888,  p.  933. 


230  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  Sixth  Day— Tuesday,  1st  of  July— Malvern  Hill. 

The    Seventh     Day — Wednesday,   2d    of    July — Reached    Harrison's 

Landing  and  the  shelter  of  the  gunboats. 

The  first  of  these  battles  was  fought  Thursday,  the  26th 
of  June,  at  Mechanicsville,  or  Beaver  Dam,  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles  out  of  Richmond.  According  to  General 
Webb's  estimate,  than  whom  there  is  no  better  authority, 
Lee  had  at  this  time  80,762  men,  and  McClellan  92,500, 
and  each  army  was  of  the  best  material  the  country 
afforded.  General  Lee  was  about  to  launch  almost  his 
entire  army  against  General  McClellan's  right  wing,  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  where  the  greater 
part  of  McClellan's  army  lay,  and  from  the  support  of 
which  his  two  corps  on  the  south  side  were  likely  to  be 
cut  off.  For  General  Lee  was  already  holding  them  there 
by  25,000  troops  thrown  between  them  and  Richmond, 
while  he  began  his  operations  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  at  Beaver  Dam  and  Games'  Mill,  with  60,000  of 
his  best  troops,  under  such  commanders  as  Longstreet, 
the  two  Hills,  Whiting,  Hood  and  Ewell.  Besides  Stone 
wall  Jackson  had  arrived  with  his  veterans,  and  was 
being  pushed  down  the  Peninsula,  to  cut  off  the  Union 
army  from  their  base  of  supplies  on  the  York  river, 
and  to  cut  them  up  generally  in  their  expected  retreat. 
It  was  a  bold  plan,  if  not  a  reckless  one,  when  the  Union 
army  was  somewhat  superior  to  the  Confederates  in  num 
bers,  and  quite  superior  in  its  heavy  artillery,  and  when 
the  strength  of  its  commander  lay  in  selecting  and  forti 
fying  good  positions,  which  he  might  be  expected  to  hold 
tenaciously.  We  must  think  that  General  Lee  had  the 
same  "  confidence  in  McClellan's  want  of  enterprise,"  that 
General  Johnston  says  he  possessed.  Beaver  Dam  was 
naturally  a  strong  position  just  across  a  little  stream 
that  ran  into  the  Chickahominy.  It  was  held  by  Fitz. 
John  Porter's  corps  of  27,000  men,  and  the  brunt  of 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  231 

the  battle  was  to  fall  upon  General  McCall's  Pennsyl 
vania  Reserves,  which  had  just  been  sent  as  reinforce 
ments,  and  had  never  been  in  action.  The  attack  was 
made  by  the  three  Confederate  corps  of  Longstreet  and 
of  the  two  Hills,  and  to  be  met  by  General  Porter,  ably 
supported  by  Seymour,  Meade  and  Reynolds,  of  the  last 
two  of  whom  it  has  been  said:  "The  one  gained  an 
undying  fame,  and  the  other  a  glorious  death  at  Gettys 
burg."  The  heaviest  and  most  persistent  blows  fell 
upon  these  fresh  reserves,  who  showed  such  enthusiasm 
and  endurance,  that  when  they  had  held  the  center  of 
the  position  from  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  after 
sunset,  had  exhausted  their  ammunition,  and  were  to 
have  been  withdrawn,  they  only  asked  for  more  ammu 
nition,  and  to  be  allowed  to  remain,  where  they  held 
their  ground  until  the  last  charge  was  made,  and  the 
whole  rebel  host  had  fallen  back.  They  were  a  part 
of  that  "perfectly  appointed  division  of  ten  thousand 
men  and  five  batteries  of  artillery"  from  Pennsylvania, 
under  General  McCall,  with  which,  General  McClellan  had 
just  telegraphed  the  government  :— 

I  shall  be  in  perfect  readiness  to  move  forward  and  take  Richmond 
the  moment  McCall  reaches  here,  and  the  ground  will  admit  of  the 
passage  of  artillery.— ["Century,"  Vol.  II,  p.  134. 

The  whole  battle  was  a  series  of  desperate  charges; 
masses  of  brave  and  well-led  men  launched  against  a 
strong  position,  and  numerous  and  heavy  batteries,  the 
Confederates  charging  them  first  in  front,  and  then  at 
tempting  to  turn  them  on  the  one  side,  and  then  on  the 
other,  to  be  repulsed  at  every  point,  and  this  repeated 
through  all  that  intensely  hot  summer  afternoon,  and 
until  the  shades  of  night  had  settled  down  over  a  terribly 
bloody  field.  General  D.  H.  Hill  on  the  Confederate  side. 
who  held  an  important  command  in  that  engagement,  has 
thus  described  it: — 


232  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  enemy  had  entrenchments  of  great  strength  and  development 
on  the  other  side  of  the  creek,  and  had  lined  the  banks  with  his 
magnificent  artillery.  The  approach  was  over  an  open  plain  exposed 
to  a  murderous  fire  of  all  arms,  and  across  an  almost  impassahle 
stream.  The  result  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  a  bloody 
and  disastrous  repulse.  Nearly  every  field  officer  in  the  brigade 
of  my  division  which  led  the  way  was  killed  or  wounded.  We  were 
lavish  of  blood  in  those  clays,  and  it  was  thought  to  be  a  great  thing 
to  charge  a  battery  of  artillery,  or  an  earth-work  lined  with  infantry. 
"It  is  magnificent,  but  it  is  not  war,"  was  the  sarcastic  remark  of  the 
French  general,  as  he  looked  on  at  the  British  cavalry  charge  at 
Balaklava.  The  attacks  on  the  Beaver  Dam  entrenchments,  on  the 
heights  of  Malvern  Hill,  at  Gettysburg,  etc.,  were  all  grand,  but 
of  exactly  the  kind  of  grandness  which  the  South  could  not  afford. — 
"  War  Book,"  Vol.  II,  p.  352. 

General  Porter,  encouraged  by  his  success  in  holding  his 
position  so  firmly,  and  with  no  more  loss,  urged  General 
McClellan,  his  personal  friend,  to  seize  the  opportunity  and 
"  let  him  hold  his  own  at  the  Beaver  Dam  line,  while  he  (Mc 
Clellan)  moved  the  main  body  of  his  army  upon  Richmond." 
General  McClellan  hesitated  as  to  what  he  would  do,  and 
when  he  left  General  Porter  at  10  o'clock  that  night,  was 
undecided,  but  between  3  and  4  o'clock  in  the  morning 
sent  him  orders  to  fall  back  six  miles  to  Games'  Mill — 
famous  thereafter  as  the  battlefield  of  that  name,  as  it  is 
called  by  Southern  writers — a  battle  that  was  to  take  place 
the  next  day. 

The  position  selected  was  along  a  creek  running  through 
boggy  swamps  and  tangled  brush,  where  the  higher  land 
back  of  it  was  covered  with  a  dense  forest,  which  served  to 
conceal  in  a  measure  the  troops  posted  there,  and  where, 
through  openings  occupied  by  numerous  and  heavy  bat 
teries  that  swept  every  approach,  assaults,  however  fierce 
and  well  supported,  were  almost  sure  to  fail.  Though 
General  Porter  was  expected  to  hold  the  position  "  with 
hardly  more  than  one-third  of  the  host  which  was  march 
ing  by  every  road  on  the  west  and  north  to  destroy  him," 
and  though  his  calls  for  re-enforcements  were  unanswered, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  233 

except  that  General  Slocum's  division  was  sent  him  near 
the  close  of  the  day  and  rendered  important  service,  he 
made  with  his  troops  such  a  magnificent  fight  that -the 
Century's  "  History  of  Abraham  Lincoln "  expresses  its 
regret  that,  "  in  spite  of  his  subsequent  history,  he  had  not 
commanded  the  entire  Army  of  the  Potomac  that  day." 

There  were  the  best  generals  of  the  South,  and  among  them 
the  redoubtable  Jackson,  whose  corps,  though  marching  with  less 
than  its  usual  celerity,  had  turned  Beaver  Dam  the  night  before, 
and  had  now  arrived  at  the  post  assigned  them  opposite  Porter's 
right.  General  Lee  commanded  on  the  field  in  person,  and  Jefferson 
Davis  contributed  whatever  his  presence  was  worth.— ["  Century," 
November,  1888,  p.  139. 

The  battle  began  at  nocn,  and  at  evening,  after  seven 
hours  of  constant  fighting,  the  Union  line  had  been  broken 
and  was  being  driven  back,  when  the  last  of  their  re-enforce 
ments  arrived,  and  the  enemy,  thinking  it  larger  than  it 
was,  withdrew  for  the  night.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
Porter  had  lost  4,000  in  killed  and  wounded— one-sixth  of 
his  force — and  Lee  had  suffered  in  still  greater  proportion. 
But  he  had  failed  of  his  object;  he  had  not  dislodged  the 
Union  army  from  its  position  and  driven  it  down  the  Chicka- 
hominy.  Such  was  the  second  day  of  that  week  of  battles, 
Friday,  the  27th. 

Here  was  reached  the  crisis  of  this  campaign  on  both 
sides.  The  campaign  of  the  Potomac  army  against  Rich 
mond,  for  which  such  vast  preparations  had  been  made, 
and  in  the  success  of  which  the  North  had  such  confidence, 
was  abandoned.*  The  most  that  could  be  hoped  for  was 
to  save  the  army.  In  his  dispatches  to  the  War  Depart 
ment  that  night,  after  this  battle  at  Games'  Mill,  and  before 
the  result  was  fully  known,  General  McClellan  says  : 

*  General  Franklin  states  that,  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  who  was  just  leaving  the 
army  with  the  two  French  princes,  who  had  been  upon  General  MoClellan's  staff 
ever  since  he  left  Fortress  Monroe,  said  to  him  with  great  emphasis  at  parting: 
"General,  advise  General  McClellan  to  concentrate  his  army  at  this  point  and  fight 
a  battle  to-day  ;  if  he  does,  he  will  be  in  Richmond  to-morrow." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

44  The  loss  on  both  sides  is  terrible.  I  believe  it  will  prove  to  be  the  most 
desperate  battle  of  the  war.  .  .  .  Had  I  20,000  or  even  10,000  fresh 
troops  to  use  to-morrow!  But  I  have  not  a  man  in  reserve,  and  I  shall 
be  glad  to  cover  my  retreat  and  save  the  material  and  personnel  of 
the  army.  If  we  have  lost  the  day,  we  have  yet  preserved  our  honor, 
antl  no  one  need  blush  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac." 

And  then,  in  his  disappointment  and  vexation,  he  pet 
tishly  throws  the  blame  of  it  upon  the  government: — 

"I  have  lost  this  battle  because  my  force  was  too  small.  I  again 
repeat  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  this.  I  still  hope  to  retrieve 
our  fortunes,  but  to  do  this  the  government  must  view  the  matter  in 
the  same  earnest  light  that  I  do.  You  must  send  me  very  large 
re-enforce rnents,  and  send  them  at  once.  ...  I  only  wish  to  say 
to  the  President,  that  I  think  that  he  is  wrong  in  regarding  me  as 
ungenerous,  when  I  said  that  my  force  was  too  weak.  As  it  is,  the 
government  must  not  and  cannot  hold  me  responsible  for  the  result. 
I  feel  too  earnestly  to-night.  I  have  seen  too  many  dead  and  wounded 
comrades  to  feel  otherwise  than  that  the  government  has  not  sus 
tained  this  army.  If  you  do  not  do  so  now,  the  game  is  lost,  if  I 
save  this  army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe  no  thanks  to  you,  or 
to  any  other  person  in  Washington.  You  have  done  your  best  to 
sacrifice  this  army." — [Greeley,  p.  158. 

And  this  after  the  unheard-of  exertions  of  the  President, 
and  the  War  Department,  and  the  governors  of  the  Northern 
States,  and  all  loyal  people  to  furnish  that  superb  army, 
and  the  difficulty  the  government  had  to  induce  him  to 
make  any  use  of  it.  At  this  very  time,  in  fact,  Secretary 
Stanton  telegraphed,  assuring  him  that  there  had  never 
been  a  moment  when  it  was  not  his  desire  to  aid  him  with 
his  "  whole  heart,  mind,  and  strength." 

The  President's  response  to  the  dispatches  addressed  to 
him,  is  kind  and  magnanimous  beyond  conception.  After 
all  his  patience  with  his  young  general's  exorbitant  de 
mands,  and  exaggerated  fears  of  the  strength  of  his  enemy, 
and  complaints  that  Washington  is  not  left  exposed  to 
strengthen  him,  Mr.  Lincoln  replies:  "Your  three  dis 
patches  of  yesterday,  ending  with  the  statement  that  you 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  235 

completely  succeeded  in  making  your  point,  are  very  grati- 
i'ying.  The  later  one,  suggesting  the  probability  of  your 
being  overwhelmed  by  200,000  men,  and  talking  of  to 
whom  the  responsibility  will  belong,  pains  me  much.  I 
give  you  all  I  can,  and  act  on  the  presumption  that  you 
will  do  the  best  you  can  with  what  you  have ;  while  you 
continue — ungenerously,  I  think — to  assume  that  I  could 
give  you  more  if  I  would.  1  have  omitted,  I  shall  omit  no 
opportunity  to  send  you  re-enforcements  whenever  I  can." 
To  this  he  adds:  "Save  your  army  at  all  events.  Will 
send  re-enforcements  as  fast  as  we  can.  Of  course  they 
cannot  reach  you  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  next  day.  I  have 
not  said  you  were  ungenerous  for  saying  you  needed  re  en 
forcements.  I  thought  you  were  ungenerous  in  assuming 
that  I  did  not  send  them  as  fast  as  I  could.  I  feel  any 
misfortune  to  you  and  your  army  quite  as  keenly  as  you 
feel  it  yourself.  If  you  have  had  a  drawn  battle  or  repulse, 
it  is  the  price  we  pay  for  the  enemy  not  being  in  Washing 
ton.  We  protected  Washington,  and  the  enemy  concen 
trated  on  you.  Had  we  stripped  Washington,  he  would 
have  been  upon  us,  before  the  troops  sent  could  have  got  to 
you.  Less  than  a  week  ago  you  notified  us  that  reinforce 
ments  were  leaving  Richmond  to  come  in  front  of  us.  It 
is  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  it  is  neither  you  nor  the  govern 
ment  that  is  to  blame." 

This  battle  to  which  General  McClellan  refers  in  his  dis 
patch  of  the  28th,  and  which  he  speaks  of  as  "  likely  to 
prove  the  most  desperate  battle  of  the  war,"  was  that  of 
"  Games'  Mill,"  which  was  fought  the  day  before. 

"Out  of  35,000  men  engaged,  the  Federals  had  nearly  7,000  killed 
and  wounded.  The  assailants  had  suffered  even  more,  but  they  had 
achieved  a  signal  victory,"  says  the  Count  of  Paris. — ["  History  of  Our 
Civil  War,"  Vol.  II,  p.  104. 

General  McClellan,  finding  himself  opposed  by  an  equal 
or  superior  force,  deprived  of  support  from  one-third  of  his 


236  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

army  which  was  held  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy  by  the  enemy,  and  knowing  that  he  was  liable  to 
be  cut  off  from  his  base  of  supplies  on  the  York  river,  de 
cided  to  retreat  if  possible  to  the  James,  across  White  Oak 
swamp.  The  undertaking  was  a  prodigious  one.  Not  that 
the  distance  was  great,  for  it  was  only  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
miles  to  Harbison's  Landing,  where  the  army  would  be 
under  the  protection  of  the  fleet,  and  find  a  new  base  of 
supplies  in  direct  connection  with  Fortress  Monroe  and 
the  whole  Atlantic  coast.  But  that  swamp — White  Oak — 
than  which  there  could  have  been  no  worse  country  for 
military  operations,  unless  it  was  the  bayous  of  Louisiana; 
that  White  Oak  creek,  which  ran  for  miles  between  the 
two  rivers  and  needed  fco  be  bridged  for  crossing,  and  was 
affected  by  every  rain ;  that  region  was  to  be  crossed  by  an 
army  of  nearly  100,000  men,  with  all  their  supplies  and 
artillery,  and  this,  too,  in  the  presence  of  a  watchful  enemy 
of  almost  equal  strength,  and  exulting  in  victory.  Then 
there  was  only  one  road  for  this  immense  army  train;  or 
rather  there  was  but  one  until  another  overgrown  and  un 
used  one  was  discovered,  which  allowed  a  parallel  column 
of  march,  while  these  two  poor  roads  were  intersected  by 
half  a  dozen  better  ones  to  and  from  Richmond,  through 
which  at  any  time  the  whole  Confederate  army  might  be 
concentrated  upon  them,  entangled  among  such  swamps, 
ravines  and  forests.  But  when  the  retreat  was  decided 
upon,  it  was  wisely  planned  and  vigorously  executed.  On 
the  afternoon  (Friday,  June  27th)  of  General  McClellan's 
defeat  at  Games'  Mill,  he  withdrew  a  portion  of  hia 
troops  across  to  the  south  side  of  the  Chickahominy, 
whence  they  could  be  easily  recalled  if  needed.  He  also 
collected  an  additional  force  of  troops  and  batteries  at  the 
north  end  of  the  bridge,  upon  the  protection  of  which  de 
pended  the  passage  of  those  army  corps,  which  for  the  last 
two  days  had  bnen  fighting  such  severe  battles.  That  night 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  237 

the  retreat  was  decided  on,  and  at  10  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  Saturday,  the  28th,  his  troops  had  all  been  with 
drawn  from  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  the  bridge 
burned  behind  them.  He  removed  his  headquarters  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Savage's  Station,  not  far  from  White  Oak 
bridge,  the  key  to  the  whole  movement  in  that  retreat. 
He  sent  his  orders  and  a  map  of  the  general  movement 
to  each  of  the  commanders  before  noon  of  that  day.  He 
ordered  General  Keyes  to  press  on  at  once  across  White 
Oak  swamp  with  his  corps,  and  select  and  occupy  positions 
on  the  other  side,  and  then  push  on  to  Malvern  Hill,  which 
proved  to  be  the  last  and  impregnable  stronghold  of  the 
campaign,  and  which  he  reached  with  all  his  artillery  and 
trains  early  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  very  day  of  the 
battle  of  Malvern  Hill.  General  Porter  was  to  follow  him, 
and  he  pushed  on  to  the  river,  where  the  trains,  as  they 
arrived,  were  massed  at  HaxalPs  Landing,  under  cover  of 
the  gunboats.  Sumner,  Heintzelrnan  and  Smith  were  to 
guard  the  rear,  while  Hooker,  Slocum,  Kearny  and  others 
were  always  at  hand  to  do  their  appointed  work,  and  con 
tribute  to  the  success  of  that  critical  movement. 

While  such  plans  and  movements  were  going  on,  General 
Lee  seems  to  have  been  strangely  oblivious  to  what  was 
taking  place  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  This  whole 
army  seems  to  have  been  across  the  Chickahominy  and  well 
started  for  the  James  before  he  knew  anything  about  it. 
He  certainly  did  nothing  for  the  first  twenty-four  hours  to 
hinder  it.  Instead  of  taking  advantage  of  our  defeat  the 
day  before  and  pushing  his  advantage,  the  next  morning 
had  come,  the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  28th,  and  he  did 
not  find  out  whether  General  McClellan  was  moving  upon 
Richmond,  or  had  set  out  for  the  James  river,  or  might  be 
expected  to  recross  the  Chickahominy  and  push  down  the 
York  river  again,  as  he  had  hitherto  attempted.  General 
Lee  was  misled  by  his  confidence  in  his  own  plans.  He 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

felt  sure  that  when  his  troops  had  all  arrived  and  he  could 
concentrate  an  army  of  80,000  men  against  McClellan,  he 
should  be  able  to  sweep  that  whole  army  as  a  disorganized 
mob  down  the  Peninsula,  cutting  them  off  from  their  base 
of  supplies  and  capture  them  and  their  supply  trains  at 
his  leisure.  He  presumed,  as  his  friends  say  he  always  did, 
upon  McClellan's  hesitancy  and  reluctance  to  risk  a  battle 
outside  his  own  fortifications,  and  did  not  believe  he  would 
risk  the  passage  of  White  Oak  swamp  with  his  great  army 
and  heavy  train  of  stores.  And  here  he  allowed  General  Mc 
Clellan  a  start  of  twenty-four  hours,  which  resulted  in  the 
latter  gaining  the  key  to  the  position — White  Oak  bridge. 
Then,  of  course,  he  moved  his  troops  in  force  and  with 
vigor,  around  by  the  way  of  Richmond,  under  Longstreet 
and  Hill,  and  from  the  opposite  direction  under  Jackson. 

In  the  meantime,  General  McClellan's  plans  were  carried 
out  to  the  letter.  One  of  the  necessities  imposed  upon  him 
was  to  transport  his  immense  army  supplies  across  that 
swamp,  besides  destroying  what  could  not  be  carried,  and 
leaving  behind  him  his  sick  and  wounded.  Three  days' 
rations  for  100,000  soldiers  and  20,000  non-combatants, 
five  days'  forage  for  40,000  horses,  350  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  a  herd  of  2,500  driven  cattle  made  a  formidable  train 
to  get  through  such  a  country.  Then  we  are  told  of  the 
burning  of  a  "  mountain  of  coffee,  rice,  biscuit,  and  hams 
as  a  sort  of  holocaust  offered  to  the  god  of  war,"  and  of  a 
railroad  train  of  shells  and  ammunition  set  on  fire,  driven 
through  a  burning  bridge,  to  be  plunged  into  the  river,  and 
of  a  well-appointed  hospital  of  2,500  sick  and  wounded, 
with  surgeons  and  nurses  left  behind  at  Savage  Station, 
and  commended  to  the  humanity  of  the  Confederates. 
And  still  that  army,  with  all  the  munitions  of  war  and 
supplies  enough  for  that  campaign,  and  even  those  heavy 
siege  guns,  which  it  seemed  foolish  to  take  upon  such  an 
expedition,  and  which  yet  proved  the  make- weight  in  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  239 

final  battle,  were  transported  safely  over  those  two  bad 
roads  in  spite  of  all  that  was  done  to  break  them  up.  The 
troops  by  day  pushed  on  to  seize  and  hold  defensible  posi 
tions,  while  the  baggage  trains  and  rear  guard  moved  up 
by  night  to  reach  these  positions,  and  this  process  was 
repeated,  the  troops  fighting  by  day  and  the  trains  march 
ing  by  night,  until  they  had  fought  victoriously  their  last 
battle,  and  were  resting  securely  under  the  guns  of  the 
fleet  on  the  James  river. 

On  the  28th,  the  first  day  of  the  retreat,  there  was  less 
fighting  than  on  any  other  day  of  that  bloody  week.  The 
Confederate  army  was  virtually  idle,  and  whatever  fighting 
was  done  was  mostly  with  artillery,  and  at  a  distance.  On 
Sunday,  the  29th,  General  Lee  sent  Longstreet  and  A.  P. 
Hill  around  by  the  way  of  Richmond,  and  Jackson  from 
the  opposite  direction,  to  assail  McClellan's  line  of  retreat. 
It  was  too  late,  and  at  the  close  of  this  second  day  of  the 
retreat,  the  29th,  General  McClellan  had  taken  successfully 
the  first  and  most  difficult  step  of  this  movement.  He  had 
succeeded  "  in  placing  White  Oak  swamp  between  his  army 
and  the  main  body  of  his  adversaries,  and  in  surmounting 
this  serious  obstacle  without  losing  either  a  cannon  or  a 
vehicle."  It  was  not,  however,  without  desperate  resolution 
and  hard  fighting  that  this  day's  work  was  accomplished. 

The  next  day,  Monday  the  30th,  came  the  battle  of 
Glendale,  more  severe  and  critical  than  any  of  this  cam 
paign,  except  that  of  Malvern  Hill,  and  in  that  we  did  not 
suffer  so  much  as  in  this.  The  Count  of  Paris  speaks  of  it 
as  "  remarkable  for  its  fierceness  among  all  those  that  have 
drenched  the  American  forests  in  blood."  Richmond  was 
in  extremity,  as  well  as  the  Potomac  army.  It  has  been 
thought  by  many  that  General  McClellan  could  have  better 
taken  Richmond  than  attempted  that  retreat.  General 
Lee  thought  his  opponent  had  made  a  fatal  mistake,  when 
lie  attempted  to  get  his  army  across  that  swmnp.  At  any 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

rate  this  was  his  opportunity,  and  now  if  ever  he  must  fall 
upon  his  adversary,  while  entangled  in  those  defiles  and 
morasses,  and  encumbered  by  army  trains  and  siege  guns. 
Presuming   upon    McClellan's   timidity   and   slowness,  he 
made  here,  as  at  Beaver  Dam  and  at  Malvern  Hill,  the 
great  mistakes  of  his  campaign,  and  sacrificed  his  troops 
uselessly,  as  some  of  his  ablest  commanders  admit,  wherein 
the  Confederacy  needed  to  be  the  most  frugal.*     General 
Lee  was  certainly  a  very  able  commander,  but  when  his 
friends  claim  that  he  showed  a  "  remarkable  discernment 
of  his  adversary's  plans,  through  the  study  of  his  charac 
ter,"  referring  to  General  McClellan's  disposition  to  move 
slowly,  and  fortify  himself  as  he  went,  it  is  evident  that 
neither  General  Lee  nor  his  friends  appreciated  McClellan's 
engineering  abilities,  and  the  danger  of  attacking  him  "  in 
position,"  as  it  is  called,  that  is,  when  he  had  carefully 
selected  his  point  of  defense.     This  was  shown  at  Beaver 
Dam,  and    again    at  White  Oak   creek,  where    Stonewall 
Jackson  was  held  all  day  within  hearing  of  the  fight  at 
Glendale,  unable  to  reach  it,  and  would  have  changed  the 
result  had  he  been  there.     It  was  shown  still  more  strik 
ingly  at  Malvern  Hill.     At  Glendale,  General  McClellan, 
after  sending  on  force  enough  to  occupy  Malvern  Hill,  and 
putting  himself  into  connection  with  the  fleet  on  the  James, 
and  giving  Franklin  troops  enough  to  hold  at  all  hazards 
the  pass  of  White  Oak  swamp,  so  located  the  rest  of  his 
troops  in  the  rear  of  his  retreating  trains,  that  they  never 
could  be  reached  and  broken  up.    General  Lee  had  brought 
up  all  his  troops;  Jackson  had  arrived  with  his  four  superb 


*  General  D.  H.  Hill  says :  "  The  blood  shed  by  the  Southern  troops  at  Beaver 
Dam  was  wasted  in  vain,  and  worse  than  in  vain,  for  that  fight  had  a  most  dis 
piriting  effect  upon  our  troops."— ["  War  Book,"  Vol.  77,  p.  361.  And  General  Long- 
street  says  :  "Next  to  Malvern  Hill,  the  sacrifice  at  Beaver  Dam  was  unequaled  in 
demoralization  during  the  entire  summer. "—["(7#n< wry,"  JVo^«m&er,  1888,  j?.  138.  And 
of  the  repeated  chargea  which  he  made  upon  our  lines  at  Malvern  Hill,  he  also 
says :  "We  were  repulsed  at  all  points  with  fearful  slaughter,  losing  6,000  men  and 
accomplishing  nothing." — ["  War  TfrwX:,"  Vol.  II,  p.  403. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  241 

divisions  of  36,000  men  and  eighteen  or  twenty  batteries, 
while  Franklin  had  but  half  that  number.  The  two  mag 
nificent  divisions  also  of  Longstreet  and  A.  P.  Hill  were  upon 
the  field,  and  they  were  so  lavish  of  their  valor  that  when 
the  battle  was  over  not  a  man  was  left  in  reserve.  They 
encountered  such  Federal  commanders  as  Sumner  and 
Heintzelman,  Hooker  and  Meade,  McCall,  Slocum  and 
Kearny.  And  while  the  whole  afternoon  was  spent  in  the 
fiercest  charges,  and  the  sturdiest  repulses,  losing  ground 
here  and  retaking  it  there,  capturing  prisoners  and  cannon 
and  recapturing  them,  and  the  field  was  covered  with  al 
most  as  much  of  the  carnage  of  war  as  ever  stained  God's 
green  earth;  the  line  of  retreat  was  never  broken  up,  but 
those  army  trains  were  protected  and  moved  forward  until 
they  were  safely  encamped  under  the  guns  of  our  fleet. 

Neither  side  won  the  victory  that  day,  though  each  deserved  it  by 
brave  and  persistent  fighting.  General  McClellan,  intent  upon  secur 
ing  a  defensive  position  for  his  army  upon  the  James,  left  the  field 
before  the  fighting  began,  while  Longstreet,  Lee,  and  Jefferson  Davis 
himself,  were  under  the  lire  of  the  Union  guns  during  the  afternoon. 
When  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  fighting,  the  Federal  generals,  left 
to  their  discretion,  had  accomplished  their  purpose.  The  enemy  had 
been  held  in  check,  the  trains  and  artillery  had  gone  safely  forward 
by  the  road  which  the  battle  had  protected,  and  on  the  next  morning, 
Tuesday,  July  1,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  awaiting  its  enemy  in 
its  natural  fortress  of  Malvern  Hill.  It  was  at  this  place  that  General 
Lee's  contempt  for  his  enemy  was  to  meet  its  last  and  severest 
chastisement. — [Nicolay  &  Hay's  "Lincoln,"  "  Century,"  November, 
1888,  p.  141. 

Malvern  Hill  had  been  selected  by  General  McClellan  as 
the  last  stronghold  in  his  retreat.  If  it  had  been  created 
for  his  purpose,  it  could  not  have  been  better.  The  country 
was  such  a  swamp  and  forest  that  between  the  Chicka- 
hominy  and  the  James  there  were  only  three  open  and 
cleared  spaces  where  such  battles  could  have  been  fought. 
These  were  Savage's  Station,  Frazier's  farm  or  Glendale 
Junction,  and  Malvern  Hill.  This  last  was  an  "  elevated 


242  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

plateau,  cleared  of  timber,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  long 
by  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  with  several  converging 
roads  running  over  it.     In  front  were  numerous  defensible 
ravines,  the  ground  sloping  gradually  toward  the  woodland, 
giving  clear  ranges  for  artillery  in  those  directions."     It 
commanded  the  roads  coming  from  Richmond  and  also 
from  White  Oak  swamp,  and  here  our  troops  were  massed, 
especially  General  McClellan's  prodigious  force  of  batteries 
and  heavy  siege  guns.     The  commanders  on   both  sides 
attribute  the  result  of  this  battle  and  the  successful  termi 
nation   of    that   retreat   especially    to   his  perfection    and 
strength  in  this  branch  of  the  service.     In  this  battle  he 
had  a  reserve  of  more  than  a  hundred  cannon,  some  of 
them  the  heaviest  siege  guns.     It  seemed  folly  to  drag  such 
guns  through  such  a  country  and  burden  a  retreating  army 
with  such  impediments.     And  yet,  in  spite  of  their  weight 
and  the  many  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed,  only  a 
single  one  was  lost,  vindicating  the  judgment  of  the  Com 
mander-in-chief,  and  repaying  him  at  last  for  what  it  cost 
him.     The  last  thing  General  McClellan  did  on  the  morning 
of  the  battle,  before  going  down  the  James  to  decide  upon 
the  final  encampment  of  his  army,  was  to  locate  these  guns 
in  the  form  of  a  semicircle  upon  the  hill,  and  cover  with 
their  converging  fire  every  point  of  his   line,  so  that  the 
heaviest  of  them  would  sweep  over  his  own  troops  and 
command  every  slope  that  gave  access  to  their  position. 
This  is  what  made  the  position  so  secure,  and  rendered  the 
repeated  and  desperate  assaults  upon  it  such  madness  and 
the  result  such  slaughter.     The  only  way  of  assaulting  such 
a  position  with  any  hope  of  success  was  the  one  adopted. 
It  was  to  plant  batteries  in  the  most  sheltered  places  to 
play  upon  our  lines,  and  having  organized  infantry  forces 
in  the  shelter  of  the  forest,  to  dash  forward  upon  the  lines 
wherever  they  were  broken,  and   by   sheer  numbers   and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  243 

desperate  courage  sweep  away  infantry  and  batteries,  cost 
what  it  might. 

The  battle  lasted  from  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  9 
o'clock  in  the  evening ;  the  valor  shown  was  heroic  and  the 
losses  terrible.  General  D.  H.  Hill  draws  this  picture  of 
one  episode  : — 

I  never  saw  anything  more  grandly  heroic  than  the  advance,  after 
sunset,  of  the  nine  brigades  under  Magruder's  orders.  Unfortunately 
they  did  not  move  together  and  were  beaten  in  detail.  As  each 
brigade  emerged  from  the  woods,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  guns 
opened  upon  it,  tearing  great  gaps  in  its  ranks,  but  the  heroes  reeled 
on,  and  were  shot  down  by  the  reserves  at  the  guns,  which  a  few 
squads  readied.  Most  of  them  had  an  open  field,  half  a  mile  wide, 
to  cross,  under  the  fire  of  field  artillery  in  front  and  the  fire  of  the 
heavy  ordnance  of  the  gunboats  in  their  rear.  It  was  not  war;  it  was 
murder.— ["War  Book,"  Vol.  II,  p.  394. 

Lee's  belief  that  a  success  now  would  not  only  relieve 
Richmond,  but  save  the  Confederacy,  accounts  for  the  des 
perate  effort  he  made,  against  the  advice  of  his  generals. 
Of  the  fighting  on  both  sides  General  McClellan  says:  "I 
doubt  whether  in  the  annals  of  war  there  was  ever  a  more 
persistent  and  gallant  attack,  or  a  more  cool  and  effective 
resistance."  Within  two  hours  of  the  close  of  the  battle, 
orders  were  given  to  fall  back  to  Harrison's  Landing,  on 
the  James  river,  and  the  next  day  the  army  arrived  there 
in  safety  with  all  its  trains.  Their  march  of  six  or  seven 
miles  was  made  through  a  heavy  rain,  and  proved  some 
what  demoralizing  to  men  exhausted  by  seven  days'  fight 
ing.  The  troops  were  safe  under  the  guns  of  the  fleet,  the 
retreat  had  been  skillfully  conducted,  and  the  campaign 
was  over. 

Now  that  the  war  is  over,  and  we  obtain  accounts  of  it 
from  those  engaged  in  it  on  both  sides,  it  is  instructive  to  get 
their  judgment  of  movements  and  results,  and  especially 
their  estimate  of  their  opponents.  Thus  General  Hill,  who 
had  led  so  gallantly  the  desperate  charge,  and  lost  so 


244  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

heavily  says  :  "  The  battle,  with  all  its  melancholy  results, 
proved,  however,  that  the  Confederate  infantry,  and  Federal 
artillery,  side  by  side  on  the  same  field,  need  fear  no  foe  on 
earth.  Both  commanders  had  shown  great  ability;  Mc- 
Clellan,  if  not  always  great  in  advance,  was  masterly  in  re 
treat,  and  was  unquestionably  the  greatest  of  Americans  as 
an  organizer  of  an  army.  Lee's  plans  were  perfect,  and 
had  not  his  dispositions  for  a  decisive  battle  at  Frazier's 
farm  miscarried,  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  he  would 
have  won  a  most  complete  victory.  It  was  not  the  least 
part  of  his  greatness  that  he  did  not  complain  of  his  disap 
pointment,  and  that  he  at  no  time  sought  a  scapegoat  upon 
which  to  lay  a  failure.  As  reunited  Americans,  we  have 
reason  to  be  proud  of  both  commanders.'' 

As  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  our  own  troops  in 
this  severe  campaign,  General  Franklin,  one  of  our  generals, 
says  of  them:— 

I  cannot  finish  without  a  word  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  men.  My 
experience  during  the  period  generally  known  as  "  the  Seven  Days" 
was  with  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  corps.  During  the  whole  time 
between  June  26  and  July  2  there  was  not  a  night  in  which  the  men 
did  not  march  almost  continually,  nor  a  day  on  which  there  was  not 
a  fight.  I  never  saw  a  skulker  during  the  whole  time,  nor  heard  one 
insubordinate  word.  Some  men  fell  by  the  wayside  exhausted,  and 
were  captured,  but  their  misfortune  was  due  to  physical  inability  to 
go  on.  They  had  no  food  but  that  which  was  carried  in  their  haver 
sacks,  and  the  hot  weather  soon  rendered  that  uneatable.  Sleep  was 
out  of  the  question,  and  the  only  rest  obtained  was  while  lying  down 
awaiting  an  attack,  or  sheltering  themselves  from  shot  and  shell.  No 
murmur  was  heard,  everything  was  accepted  as  the  work  for  which 
they  had  enlisted.  They  had  been  soldiers  less  than  a  year,  yet  their 
conduct  could  not  have  been  more  soldierly  had  they  seen  ten  years 
of  service.  No  such  material  for  soldiers  was  ever  in  the  field  before, 
and  their  behavior  in  this  movement  foreshadowed  their  success  as 
veterans  at  Appomattox. — ["  War  Book,"  Vol.  I/,  p.  182. 

So  ended  this  campaign,  for  the  army  was  soon  with 
drawn  from  the  Peninsula,  and  General  McClellan  was 
relieved  of  his  command  as  cominander-in-chief  of  all  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  245 

Union  armies,  and  put  in  charge  of  the  defenses  of  Wash 
ington,  when  he  was  called  upon  to  resist  Lee's  invasion  of 
Maryland,  and  successfully  fought  the  battle  of  Antietam- 
The  results  of  the  campaign  were  sad  and  disappointing  in 
the  highest  degree.     The  losses  on  both  sides  were  simply 
enormous.  General  McClellan  estimates  them,  during  those 
last  seven  days  of  fighting,  as  15,849  killed,  wounded  and 
missing;  and  the  losses  of  the  Confederate  army  during  the 
same  period  he  puts  at  19,749,  both  of  which  are  substan 
tially  correct  according  to  the  latest  revision  of  the  reports 
on  both  sides.     On  our  side  it  was  almost  the  destruction 
•of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  army  of  the  war.     When 
it  set  out  from  Fortress  Monroe,  after  that  long  cry  of  "On 
to  Richmond ! "  though  we  had  no  suitable  army  for  such 
an   enterprise,  we  followed  this   one  with  its  accomplished 
and  popular  commander,  almost  sure  of  success.     But  when 
three   weary  months  had  worn  away  and  our  troops  were 
only   approaching  the   city,   and   we   heard   from   them  as 
fighting  daily  battles,  and   every  boat  and   train  from   the 
front  came  loaded  with  their  wounded  and  sick,  and  finally 
the  news  came  that  they  were  in  full  retreat  through  those 
swamps  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  fighting  such  battles  as 
"Beaver  Dam,"  "Games'  Mill,"  Savage's  Station,"    Glen- 
dale,"  and   "Malvern  Hill,"  and  as  we  learned  more  of  the 
particulars   of  this  wrecked  expedition,  who  that  did   not 
experience   it  can  appreciate  the  disappointment,  the  per 
sonal  anguish,  and  public  sorrow  that  spread  over  all  the 
Northern  States  ?     And  if  anything  could  have  discouraged 
us,  in  such  a  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  Republic,  it  would  have  been  this.    For  it 
looked  as  if  the  failure  of  this  grand  expedition  might  lead 
to   the   acknowledgment   of  the    Confederacy    by    foreign 
powers,  while  the  "peace  party"  at  home  were  disposed &to 
adjust  matters  upon  any  terms,  even  new  compromises  with 
slavery,  which  would  have  left  us  worse  off  than  ever,  and 


246  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

robbed  the  world  of  the  only  successful  experiment  in  self- 
government  and  equal  rights.  But  instead  of  discourage 
ment,  and  giving  over  the  attempt  to  maintain  the  Republic, 
such  reverses  only  showed  that  we  were  not  appreciating  our 
danger,  and  had  not  begun  to  do  enough  to  escape  it.  And 
the  Northern  States  were  wise  enough  and  patriotic  enough 
to  understand  it,  and  push  forward  their  enlistments  and 
multiply  their  contributions  to  the  war  until  the  object  of 
the  war  was  secured.  The  repeated  and  vast  levies  tor 
troops  made  by  the  government  and  the  enthusiasm  for 
enlistment  which  followed,  and  this  before  either  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  had  been  won  or  Vicksburg  had  fallen, 
showed  what  was  meant  by  the  u  Uprising  of  a  Great 
People,"  and  as  distinctly  forecast  the  final  result  as  though 
some  prophet  had  foretold  it. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

FURTHER  CALLS  FOR  VOLUNTEERS. 

Two  Requisitions  for  300,000  Men  Each  in  the  Summer  of  1802— Gov 
ernor  Buckingham's  Proclamation— The  Patriotic  Response  of  the 
Men  of  Connecticut— Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  as  to  Emancipa 
tion — Value  of  the  Slaves — The  Emancipation  Proclamation 
Foreshadowed. 

In  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  dispatches  to  General  McClellan, 
when  he  was  in  his  greatest  perplexity  and  distress,  he 
said  :— 

''Maintain  your  ground  if  you  can,  but  save  the  army  at  all  events, 
even  if  you  fall  back  to  Fortress  Monroe.  We  still  have  strength 
enough  in  the  country  and  will  bring  it  out.  Save  the  army,  material 
and  personnel,  and  I  will  strengthen  it  for  the  offensive  again  as  fast 
as  I  can.  The  governors  of  eighteen  States  offer  me  a  new  levy  of 
300,000  men,  which  I  accept."— ["Century,"  October,  1838,  p.  145. 

Governor  Buckingham  was  of  course  one  of  this  number, 
and  with  his  patriotic  State  behind  him,  sure  to  follow 
where  he  led  the  way,  he  might  well  counsel,  as  he  always 
had  done,  the  raising  of  more  troops.  His  letter  to  the 
President,  a  few  months  after  he  issued  his  call  for  75,000 
men,  counseling  him  to  raise  400,000  or  500,000  if  he 
would  cope  successfully  with  the  Confederate  forces  al 
ready  in  the  field,  has  previously  been  referred  to.  (It  can  be 
found  in  full  on  pp.  1*66-168.)  Again  and  again  he  had 
filled  his  quota,  and  had  regiments  on  hand  which  he 
begged  in  vain  to  have  taken  into  the  service.  The  State 
had  also  at  his  suggestion  offered  to  put  its  troops  into  the 
field  at  its  own  expense  and  await  the  convenience  of  the 
government  for  repayment. 


248  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

In  April  of  this  year  the  President  called  for  300,000 
troops,  and  in  August  for  300,000  more.  At  this  tune 
business  was  good  in  every  department.  The  withdrawal 
of  a  large  number  of  men  from  productive  labor,  and  the 
preparation  of  the  immense  supplies  required  for  the  army 
in  the  field,  kept  every  hand  busy  and  every  wheel  in 
motion.  The  daily  expenses  of  the  government,  chiefly  for 
war  purposes,  were  nearly  $2,000,000.  But  before  making 
these  heavy  demands  the  President  hesitated.  He  might 
well  have  thought  at  first  that  the  troops  called  for  were 
sufficient  to  put  down  the  rebellion  of  South  Carolina  and 
a  few  other  States,  and  have  hoped,  as  so  many  predicted, 
that  "the  war  would  be  over  in  six  months/'  Nor  could 
he  tell  how  far  the  Union  States  would  respond  to  his  calls 
for  men  and  money.  So  he  ascertained  from  the  loyal 
governors  how  far  he  could  draw  upon  their  States  in  any 
emergency.  Thus  he  writes  to  the  Secretary  of  War  when 
McClellan's  army  was  in  its  perilous  condition : — 

Then  let  the  country  give  us  100.000  new  troops  in  the  shortest 
possible  time,  which,  added  to  McClellan  directly  or  indirectly,  will 
take  Richmond  without  endangering  any  other  place  which  we  now 
hold,  and  will  substantially  end  the  war.  1  expect  to  maintain  this 
contest  until  successful,  or  till  I  die,  or  am  conquered,  or  my  term 
expires,  or  Congress  or  the  country  forsake  me.  And  I  would  pub 
licly  appeal  to'  the  country  for  this  new  force,  were  it  not  that  I  fear 
a  general  panic  and  stampede  would  follow,  so  hard  is  it  to  have  a 
thing  understood  as  it  really  is.  I  think  the  new  force  should  be  all, 
or  nearly  all,  infantry,  principally  because  such  can  be  raised  most 
cheaply  and  quickly. — [  Unpublished  MS.  in  4<  The  Century,"  December, 
1888,  p.  289. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  Secretary  Seward  went  to 
New  York  city  to  confer  with  Governors  Morgan  of  New 
York  and  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania,  and  replies : — 

The  governors  respond  and  the  Union  committee  approve  earnestly 
and  unanimously.  Let  the  President  make  the  order,  and  let  both 
papers  come  out  in  to-morrow  morning's  papers,  if  possible.  The 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  249 

number  of  troops  to  be  called  is  left  to  the  President  to  lix.  No  one 
proposes  less  than  200,000.  Make  it  300,000  if  you  wish.  They  say  it 
may  be  500,000  if  the  President  desires.—  ["  Century,"  p.  290. 

Accordingly  there  appeared  at  once  in  the  newspapers,  a 
formal  correspondence  purporting  to  be  the  voluntary  re 
quest  of  eighteen  governors  of  loyal  States,  for  such  a  call, 
and  it  was  fixed  at  300.000. 

Then  for  the  first  time  the  successful  prosecution  of  the 
war  seemed  to  have  become  the  great  business,  if  not  the 
only  business,  of  the  North.  In  Massachusetts,  Governor 
Andrew  issued  an  order,  recommending  that  throughout 
the  Commonwealth,  and  especially  in  the  cities  and  larger 
towns,  business  should  be  suspended  during  the  coming 
week,  and  that  the  time  and  influence  of  every  citizen  be 
given  to  encouraging  enlistments,  by  the  example  of  his 
own  enrollment,  if  within  the  prescribed  limits  of  age  and 
health,  and  if  not,  by  stimulating  the  patriotism  of  his 
neighbors.  Governor  Buckingham  issued  this  order  to  the 
people  of  his  State,  before  the  last  of  the  wagons  of  Mc- 
Clellan's  retreating  army  had  fairly  reached  their  shelter 
at  Harrison's  Landing  :— 

CITIZENS  OF  CONNECTICUT: 

You  are  again  called  upon  to  rally  to  the  support  of  the  govern 
ment.  In  the  name  of  our  common  country,  I  call  upon  you  to  enroll 
your  names  for  the  immediate  formation  of  six  or  more  regiments  of 
infantry  to  be  used  in  suppressing  the  rebellion.  Our  troops  may  be 
held  in  check,  and  our  sons  may  die  on  the  battlefield,  but  the  cause 
of  civil  liberty  must  be  advanced;  the  supremacy  of  the  government 
must  be  maintained.  Prompt  and  decisive  action  will  be  economy  in 
men  and  money.  By  our  delay  the  safety  of  our  armies,  even  of  the 
nation,  may  be  imperiled.  The  rebellion,  contending  with  the  des 
peration  of  a  hopeless  and  wicked  cause,  must  be  met  with  equal 
energy.  Close  your  manufactories  and  workshops,  turn  aside  from 
your  farms  and  your  business,  leave  for  awhile  your  families  and 
homes,  meet  face  to  face  the  enemies  of  your  liberties!  Haste,  and 
you  will  rescue  many  noble  men  now  struggling  against  superior 
numbers,  and  speedily  secure  the  blessings  of  peace  and  good 
government. 


250  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  State,  at  New  Haven,  this 
3d  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1862. 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

By  his  Excellency's  command, 
J.  H.  TKUMBULL,  Secretary  of  State. 

Then  came  the  war  meetings  in  every  town,  and  espe 
cially  the  cities.  A  great  and  spirited  one  was  held  in 
New  Haven  within  ten  days  after  the  battle  of  Malvern 
Hill,  where  Commodore  Foote  presided,  fresh  from  his  suc 
cess  in  helping  Grant  capture  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee 
river,  and  in  opening  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Speeches 
were  made  by  the  Governor,  Senator  Dixon,  Rev.  Dr. 
Bacon  and  others,  representing  every  class  and  the  strongest 
influences  of  the  State.  The  matter  of  enlistments  was 
put  into  the  hands  of  an  able  committee,  who  first  resolved 
to  "postpone  absolutely  for  the  present  all  topics  of  dis 
pute,"  and  proceeded  to  raise  "  the  Lyon  regiment,"  named 
after  General  Lyon,  one  of  the  sons  of  Connecticut  who 
fell  early  in  the  war,  and  whom  the  State  has  never  ceased 
to  honor.  This  regiment  was  full  and  left  the  State  within 
a  month.  A  similar  meeting  was  held  at  Hartford,  where 
5,000  people  were  gathered,  and  a  similar  regiment  was 
raised  and  on  its  way  to  the  war  before  the  month  ended. 

And  so  the  work  went  on  in  every  county  and  town, 
under  the  President's  first  call  for  enlistments,  until  within 
forty-five  days  the  State's  quota  ot  8,066  men  had  been 
volunteered  and  organized  into  eight  full  regiments,  and 
one  light  battery,  with  a  surplus  of  almost  another  thou 
sand.  This  was  scarcely  accomplished,  when  another  call 
came  from  the  government  for  300,000  nine-months'  men, 
to  be  filled  by  a  draft  if  not  furnished  by  enlistment. 
Things  looked  discouraging  for  the  Union  cause.  We  had 
had  no  great  military  successes  of  late,  while  the  complete 
breaking  down  of  the  Peninsular  campaign  against  Rich 
mond  was  the  great  disappointment  of  the  war  to  the 
North.  The  Confederacy,  encouraged  thereby,  was  putting 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  25 1 

forth  prodigious  efforts  to  take  advantage  of  the  disorgan 
ization  of  that  army,  and  proposing  even  to  invade  the  free 
States.  This  was  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  which  took  place  the  17th  of  September,  and  in 
anticipation  of  which  the  government  made  its  second  and 
almost  frantic  call  for  still  more  troops.  It  was  for  300,- 
000  more,  only  these  were  to  be  nine-months'  men,  and 
they  must  be  furnished  by  draft,  if  they  did  not  offer  them 
selves  for  enlistment.  Connecticut  had  already  furnished 
21,702  troops ;  her  new  quota  would  be  7,145  ;  the  number 
of  her  population  fit  for  military  service  had  been  heavily 
drawn  upon;  the  number  who  had  enlisted,  from  mere 
patriotism  and  a  sense  of  duty,  left  fewer  of  this  class  to 
appeal  to,  so  it  was  not  strange  that  the  heavy  bounties  and 
sordid  substitutes  that  helped  to  fill  up  this  last  draft, 
proved  poor  stuff  compared  with  the  better  material  that 
composed  the  first  regiments. 

Yet  as  showing  what  kind  of  men  were  entering  the 
service  at  this  very  time  when  "  bounty-jumpers"  and  "de 
serters"  were  most  numerous,  we  might  refer  to  the  Six 
teenth  regiment,  under  Colonel  Beach,  the  first  to  be  raised 
and  the  soonest  in  the  field,  under  that  July  call.  It  was 
a  Hartford  county  regiment,  and  a  three-years'  regiment, 
enlisted  from  that  city,  arid  the  substantial  towns  of  that 
vicinity;  mustered  into  the  service,  and  off  to  the  front 
within  two  months  after  they  were  called  for,  and  with  a 
thousand  men  in  their  ranks  beside  the  officers.  They  were 
hurried  into  the  field  at  Antietam,  almost  as  soon  as  they 
had  received  their  arms,  where  they  maintained  their  posi 
tion,  and  behaved  themselves  like  veterans  in  the  bloody 
"  Battle  of  the  Cornfield,"  and  where  they  left  so  many  dead. 
This  was  the  most  unfortunate  regiment  that  left  the  State, 
being  taken  prisoners  within  a  year  after  (all  but  one  com 
pany),  in  North  Carolina,  and  sent  to  Andersonville,  where 
they  patiently  endured  for  another  year  more  than  the  hard- 


252  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ships  of  a  score  of  ordinary  campaigns,  and  were  subjected 
to  tortures  which  only  (iends  could  inflict.* 

A  touching  sequel  to  their  story  was,  that  when  captured 
they  tore  their  blue  State  flag  into  scraps  to  be  distributed 
among  the  men  and  concealed  about  their  persons  Years 
after,  when  the  war  flags  were  removed  with  great  pomp 
and  ceremony  from  the  State  arsenal  to  the  new  capitol, 
and  few  of  them  could  be  unfurled  they  were  so  tattered 
and  bullet-riddled,  this  regiment — what  was  left  of  it — 
bore  a  fresh,  yellow  satin  flag  floating  proudly  on  the  breeze, 
as  if  they  were  just  going  to  the  war.  But  upon  it  might 
be  seen  a  blue  shield,  not  bigger  than  your  hand,  made  up 
of  the  bits  of  the  State  flag  distributed  when  they  were 
captured,  and  preserved  like  holy  relics  through  humilia 
tion,  torture,  and  all  but  the  anguish  of  crucifixion.  And 
when  these  veterans  came  marching  by,  the  shouts  that 
greeted  them,  expressive  of  mingled  pity  and  praise,  as  this 
strange  symbol  of  heroism  and  suffering  came  to  be  under 
stood,  were  enough  to  make  a  hero  of  anybody,  and  a 
martyr,  too ! 

As  showing  the  high  and  noble  spirit  that  generally  pre 
vailed,  when  the  meanest  recruits  were  going  into  the  army 
for  the  sake  of  the  high  bounties,  another  instance  might 
be  mentioned  of  another  Hartford  regiment,  in  which  com 
mander  and  men  were  alike  distinguished  for  earnest  patri 
otism.  Colonel  George  P.  Bissell  was  at  the  head  of  a 
large  banking  house  in  Hartford,  and  had  taken  an  active 


*  As  an  exhibition  of  their  spirit,  a  petition  to  President  Lincoln  for  exchange 
was  at  this  time  circulated,  but  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  generally  refused  to  sign 
it  on  the  ground  that  it  might  embarrass  the  government  in  its  dealings  with  the 
rebellion,  and  that  the  loyal  authorities  were  already  doubtless  doing  what  they 
could.  There  were  now  30,000  or  them  in  the  stockade.  A  rebel  contractor  came 
in  to  induce  them  to  desert,  and  promised  them  good  rations  and  pay  if  they  would 
go  out  and  make  shoes  for  the  Confederacy,  but  the  starving  patriots  refused  such 
service,  aud  the  recruiting  cobbler  was  hooted  and  jeered  out  of  the  stockade.  It 
was  now  August  1  and  the  distress  had  become  very  great.  In  the  stockade  and 
hospital  3,000  died  during  that  month,  and  13,000  during  the  summer.  Of  the  400 
enlisted  men  who  entered  those  portals  of  death,  less  than  200  ever  lived  to  tell  the 
story  of  their  starvation  and  nameless  tortures.— [%k  Connecticut  in  the  War." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  253 

part  in  the  first  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  in  the  encour 
agement  of  enlistments  into  the  three-months'  regiments 
first  sent  out.     But  it  was  not  until  the  second  year  of  the 
war  that  he  felt  called  upon  to  enlist  himself.     He  had 
been  West  and  into  Kentucky  on  business,  and  realizing 
the  occasion,  concluded  that  he  must  not  only  encourage 
others  to  go  to  the  war,  but  go  himself.     He  proposed  it  to 
his  father-in-law,  who  was  as  patriotic  as  himself,  and  took 
a  leading  part  in  all  the  efforts  of  the  city  to  raise  funds 
and  troops.     He  was  told  that  he  could  not  advise  it.     He 
could  not  be  spared.     He  might  send  twenty  substitutes, 
but  he  must  not  think  of  it.     The  answer  was  that  he  had 
the  most  profound  respect  for  his  judgment,  and  would  in 
almost  anything  defer  to  his  wishes,  but  this  was  a  matter 
of  conscience  with  him.     He  was  satisfied  that  the  crisis 
required  it  of  him  and  other  business  men,  and  he  must  go 
and  set  them  an  example.     He  stepped  across  the  street 
from  his  banking  house  to  the  State  House,  where  he  told 
Governor  Buckingham  of  his  purpose,  and  added  that  if  he 
could  give  him  a  lieutenancy  or  some  such  humble  official  posi 
tion  it  would  gratify  him.    The  Governor  jumped  up  and,  seiz 
ing  both  his  hands,  said  :  "  I'll  make  you  a  colonel,  and  you 
may  take  your  choice  of  the  four  regiments  now  enlisting 
and  gathering  at  the  camp,  and  I  will  put  you  in  charge  of 
the  camp  as  post  commander,  for  you  are  the  man  of  all 
others  needed  there."     He  went  directly  to  the  camp,  and 
for  a  month  never  passed  a  night  at  his  own  house,  until  he 
had  put  things  in  order  there.     His  regiment  was  soon  in 
the  field,  and  served  honorably  and  efficiently  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf,  under  General  Banks,  and  nobly  bore  its 
part  of  hardship  and  loss  in  the  capture  of  Port  Hudson 
and  the  severe  fight  at  Irish  Bend.*     This  regiment  was 

*  Here  is  where  the  Twenty-fifth  went  into  battle  for  the  first  time,  and  not  only 
encountered  a  severe  musketry  fire,  but  became  also  the  mark  of  a  battery  on  one 
side  and  the  guns  of  a  rebel  gunboat  on  the  other.  "  Here  they  were  kept  under 
fire  eleven  hours  and  suffered  fearfully.  But  the  men  stood  up  to  their  work  nobly, 


254 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


characterized  by  its  fine  discipline  and  its  reverence  for 
sacred  things,  which  it  carried  with  it  from  home  and  pre 
served  amid  the  corruptions  of  war  and  in  that  rude  region 
of  the  Southwest.  It  is  told  that  a  visitor  in  the  camp, 
who  was  surprised  at  the  character  of  the  men  in  this 
respect,  said  :  "  Colonel,  I  don't  hear  any  swearing  in  your 
camp."  "  Don't  have  any,"  was  the  reply.  "  Don't  have 
any?  You  needn't  tell  me  that,  when  there  are  no  officers 
around."  "  1  tell  you  we  don't  have  any.  I'll 'give  you 
five  dollars  for  any  oath  you  pick  up  in  my  camp."  And 
it  is  said  that  he  never  made  any  money  by  it. 

So  these  heavy  calls  upon  the  State  for  troops  were  met, 
and  no  draft  was  made,  though  it  would  have  come  if  en 
listments  had  not  proved  sufficient.  Every  city  and  town 
was  expected  to  look  after  its  own  quota,  and  by  personal 
and  united  effort,  the  offer  of  bounties,  and  the  application 
of  the  overplus  number  from  one  town  to  the  deficit  of 
another,  the  requisite  number  of  soldiers  was  raised. 

The  aggregate  of  those  who  dishonestly  sought  exemption,  was  of 
course  very  small,  when  compared  with  the  whole  number  liable  to 
military  duty.  The  people  generally  were  ready  to  stand  the  draft, 
and  some  calmly  awaited  the  result  as  the  decision  of  Providence 
upon  their  duty  to  go  or  stay.  Still  there  was  a  decided  repugnance 
to  a  draft,  however  equitable,  and  all,  with  Connecticut  ideas  of  free 
dom,  wished  to  see  the  ranks  filled  by  volunteers.— ["Connecticut  in 
the  War,"  p.  243. 

There  was  some  hot  haste  required  at  last  to  do  it. 
Many  towns  had  not  filled  their  quotas  until  the  last  day. 
At  New  Haven  several  thousand  people  were  gathered  at 
the  north  portico  of  the  State  House  early  that  day,  where 
a  citizens'  meeting  was  organized,  addresses  made,  bids 
offered  for  substitutes,  and  additional  bounties  to  enlist 
ments,  until  4  o'clock,  when  the  draft  was  to  begin  to 

incited  by  the  example  of  their  gallant  colonel,  Bissell,  who,  regardless  of  his  own 
safety,  passed  from  end  to  end  of  the  line,  encouraging  them  to  deeds  of  bravery." 
— ["  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  p.  405. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  255 

supply  the  deficiency.  The  number  was  nearly  full,  and 
the  draft  was  delayed  for  half  an  hour,  when  it  was  an 
nounced  that  the  number  was  completed.  More  than  a 
hundred  had  enlisted  since  9  o'clock  in  the  morning;  some 
of  the  towns  even  then  had  not  furnished  their  quota,  but 
others  had  an  excess  of  men,  and  these  were  enough  to  sup-" 
ply  the  deficiencies.  So  that  these  two  heavy  calls  for 
troops  were  both  met,  and  within  three  months  the  men 
were  in  the  field.  They  were  there  to  resist  the  invasion 
of  Maryland,  which  took  place  in  September  ;  they  did  good 
service,  and  some  of  them  suffered  terribly.  The  battle  of 
Antietam  has  been  called  "  the  bloodiest  day  of  the  war." 
General  McClellan  makes  his  entire  loss  in  this  battle  over 
12,000,  and  General  Lee's  was  not  less.  As  it  was  not 
decisive,  and  no  particular  advantage  was  taken  of  it,  so 
but  that  the  free  States  were  invaded  again  the  next  year, 
when  the  more  decisive  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought,  it 
was  felt  to  be  a  great  expenditure  of  means  for  no  more 
important  results.  It  was  this  which  removed  General 
McClellan  from  the  command  of  the  army,  and  from  the 
army  itself. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION,  1862. 

The  President's  Decision  in  Regard  to  Emancipation— His  Plan  of 
Buying  Off  the  Northern  Slave  States  and  Paying  them  for  Their 
few  Slaves— The  Failure— His  Correspondence  with  Mr.  Bancroft 
—His  Decision  to  Issue  such  Proclamation  as  soon  as  the  Govern 
ment  Should  Have  Gained  Some  Important  Victory — It  was  Done 
after  the  Battle  of  Antietam. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  government  and  the 
people  of  the  North  had  been  perplexed  to  know  how  to 
treat  slavery.  The  reason  and  manner  of  its  toleration  in 
hope  of  a  gradual  and  peaceful  extinction  of  slavery  have 
been  described,  as  well  as  the  violation  of  agreements  by 
the  South  arid  the  successive  acts  of  aggression  which  cul 
minated  in  secession  and  war,  all  the  direct  result  of  the 
Southern  determination  to  perpetuate  and  extend  slavery. 
In  these  circumstances,  it  might  have  been  expected  when 
the  war  came  that  the  government  would  at  once  attack 
slavery,  the  most  vulnerable  point  of  the  Confederacy.  As 
it  was,  however,  the  President  had  a  plan  of  his  own  to 
induce  the  border  slave  States,  where  there  were  the  fewest 
slaves,  to  emancipate  them  and  let  the  government  pay  for 
them,  and  so  prevent  these  States  from  joining  the  Confed 
eracy.  Delaware  had  only  1,800  slaves,  and  Congress  had 
already  passed  a  joint  resolution,  "That  the  United  States 
ought  to  co  operate  with  any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid." 
Maryland  had  more  slaves,  but  her  interests  were  all  in  the 
direction  of  free  labor,  and  to  get  rid  of  her  slave  system 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  be  on  an  equal  business  footing 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  257 

with  the  other  Northern  States.  So  had  Kentucky  and 
Missouri,  with  their  greater  territory  and  rich  resources,  a 
strong  inducement  to  free  themselves  from  their  hampering 
slave  system.  For  a  time  the  President  seemed  confident 
that  by  fair  treatment  and  compensation  for  their  slaves, 
he  could  induce  them  to  abolish  slavery  and  keep  out  of 
the  Confederacy.  He  pressed  it  personally  upon  their 
representatives  in  Congress.  He  recommended  it  in  his 
messages,  and  presented  in  all  its  detail  the  feasibility  and 
wisdom  of  such  a  plan,  while  carefully  avoiding  everything 
that  could  wound  their  keen  sensibilities  upon  this  subject. 
He  took  unwearied  pains  to  relieve  every  difficulty  and  sug 
gest  every  feasible  method,  and  put  the  matter  into  their  own 
hands,  so  as  to  have  them  feel  that  it  was  not  forced  upon 
them  by  the  government.  He  appealed  to  these  States  in 
his  most  candid  and  kindest  manner,  and  urged  them  by 
every  consideration  of  wisdom  and  duty  not  to  be  blind 
to  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  neglect  a  great  providential 
opportunity,  and  have  cause  forever  to  lament  that  they 
threw  away  such  a  priceless  boon  once  offered  to  the  slave, 
and  to  the  nation. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Several  months  after  the  President 
and  Congress  had  sanctioned  this  policy  of  compensated 
emancipation  in  the  border  slave  States,  he  gathered  their 
delegations  about  him  at  the  White  House,  and  read  to 
them  a  second  carefully  prepared  paper  upon  the  subject. 
He  urges  his  plan  as  the  surest  and  quickest  to  end  the 
war;  as  one  which  the  government  can  carry  out  and 
make  compensation  for  their  slaves,  which  it  may  never  be 
able  to  do  after  the  country  is  impoverished  by  a  destruc 
tive  war ;  he  also  reminds  them,  that  if  the  war  continues 
long,  as  it  must,  if  the  object  is  not  soon  attained,  the  in 
stitution  of  their  States  will  be  extinguished  by  the  mere 
friction  and  abrasion ;  the  mere  incidents  and  necessities 
of  war ;  he  tells  them  they  know  what  the  power  of  the 


258  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

larger  slave  States  over  them  is,  and  adjures  them  to  break 
that  rod  of  their  oppression,  and  be  forever  free;  and  he 
ends  with  this  personal  and  constraining  appeal :  u  Most 
of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  consideration, 
and  I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch  what 
is  exclusively  your  own,  when  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
country,  I  ask  :  Can  you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than 
to  take  the  course  I  urge?" 

But  it  never  had  any  effect  upon  any  one  of  those  States, 
and  not  much  with  the  Northern  States — even  in  the  great 
business  centers,  where  commercial  ideas  of  profit  and  loss 
are  supposed  to  be  the  most  correctly  calculated,  this  eco 
nomic  feature  of  the  plan  never  seemed  to  have  attracted 
any  favorable  attention.  One  of  the  New  York  papers,  The 
Times,  having  expressed  the  opinion  that  this  plan  of  the 
President's,  "  though  well  intentioned,  must  fail  on  the 
score  of  expense"  the  President  wrote  to  the  editor  as 
follows  :— 

I  am  grateful  to  the  New  York  journals,  and  not  less  so  to  The 
Times  than  to  others,  for  their  kind  notices  of  the  late  special  mes 
sage  to  Congress.  Your  paper,  however,  intimates  that  the  proposi 
tion,  though  well  intentioned,  must  fail  on  the  score  of  expense.  I 
do  hope  you  will  reconsider  this.  Have  you  noticed  the  facts  that 
less  than  one-half  day's  cost  of  this  war  would  pay  for  all  the 
slaves  in  Delaware  at  $400  per  head;  that  eighty-seven  days'  cost  of 
this  war  would  pay  for  all  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  District  of  Colum 
bia,  Kentucky  and  Missouri  at  the  same  price?  Were  those  States  to 
take  the  steps,  do  you  doubt  that  it  would  shorten  the  war  more  than 
eighty-seven  days,  and  thus  be  an  actual  saving  of  expense?  Please 
look  at  these  things  and  consider  whether  there  should  not  be  another 
article  in  The  Times.— [  Unpublished  MS. 

Again,  the  President  wrote  privately  to  one  of  the  sena 
tors  (McDougall)  who  opposed  the  scheme,  as  follows  :— 

As  to  the  expensiveness  of  the  plan  of  gradual  emancipation  with 
compensation,  proposed  in  the  late  message,  please  allow  me  one  or 
two  brief  suggestions.  Less  than  one-half  day's  cost  of  the  war 
would  pay  for  all  the  slaves  in  Delaware  at  $400  per  head.  Thus: — 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  259 

All  the  slaves  in  Delaware  by  census  of  1860  are      .  1,798 

$400 


Cost  of  slaves,        ...  ,  $719,200 

One  day's  cost  of  the  war, 2,000,000 

Again,  less  than  eighty-seven  days'  cost  of  this  war  would,  at  the 

same  price,  pay  for  all  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  District  of  Columbia, 

Kentucky  and  Missouri.    Thus: — 

Slaves  in  Delaware, 1,798 

Slaves  in  Maryland, 87,188 

Slaves  in  District  of  Columbia,  ....  3,181 

Slaves  in  Kentucky, 225,490 

Slaves  in  Missouri,        ......        114,90i> 


432,566 

$400 


Cost  of  slaves, $173,020,400 

Eighty-seven  days'  cost  of  war,          .        .  174,000,000 

—[Nicolay  &  Hay's  "Lincoln,"  "  The  Century,"  December,  1888,  p.  278. 

As  the  war  was  running  on  past  the  middle  of  its 
second  year,  and  so  many  complications  were  arising  out 
of  its  connection  with  slavery,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
proclaimed  no  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  or  purpose  to 
use  them  as  soldiers,  it  was  supposed  by  many  that  he 
was  inclined  to  deal  leniently  with  the  whole  system,  and 
might  end  the  war  without  destroying  or  impairing  the 
slaveholder's  title  to  such  property.  The  Northern  people 
were  slowly  but  surely  losing  their  respect  for  that  sort  of 
title.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  had  never  lost  sight  of  this  result, 
which  he  foresaw  must  come,  and  devoutly  prayed  might 
come.  Emancipation  by  purchase  might  well  come  first,  if 
it  could  be  brought  about,  and  if  successful  in  the  border 
States,  it  would  follow  elsewhere.  Still  no  such  rash  act 
as  stirring  up  a  slave  insurrection,  or  foolish  one  as  to  pro 
claim  an  emancipation  without  power  to  execute  it,  was  to 
be  thought  of.  He  wisely  refrained  from  all  threats  of 
emancipation,  as  fatal  to  his  first  project,  until  that  had 
been  thoroughly  attempted.  He  did,  however,  continually 
intimate  that  emancipation  must  be  the  result  of  the  war, 


260  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

if  the  war  was  allowed  to  go  on ;  he  took  positions  in  his 
messages,  one  after  another,  which  would  lead  to  emanci 
pation,  only  he  would  be  in  no  haste  to  resort  to  "radical 
and  extreme  measures,  by  which  the  loyal  might  suffer  as 
well  as  the  disloyal."  The  war  was  already  setting  free 
many  slaves,  and  he  recommends  that  "  Congress  provide 
for  accepting  such  persons,  and  they  be  at  once  deemed 
free."  And  while  he  would  not  "  hastily  adopt  extreme 
and  radical  measures,  the  Union  must  be  preserved,  and  all 
indispensable  means  must  be  employed  for  that  purpose." 
He  gave  fair  warning  as  to  what  he  meant,  and  how  much 
was  implied,  if  his  first  plan  did  not  succeed,  and  the  war 
went  on.  In  the  meantime,  the  people  of  the  North  were 
wondering  if  the  title  to  slave  property  was  so  pre-emi 
nently  sacred,  that  it  could  not  be  meddled  with  even  in 
war,  and  if  only  slaveholders  must  be  left  in  undisturbed 
possession  of  such  a  contraband  of  war.  The  generals  in 
the  field,  and  their  troops  too,  felt  themselves  hampered, 
and  felt  demeaned,  by  being  obliged  to  respect  such  claims. 
There  was  beginning  to  be  talk  about  enlisting  colored 
troops,  and  letting  them  help  fight  out  their  own  emanci 
pation,  instead  of  leaving  it  all  to  white  men.  And  as  the 
war  went  on,  and  so  many  more  troops  were  called  for,  it 
\vas  favored  and  demanded.  The  governors  of  the  free 
States,  supported  by  their  constituency,  were  urging  the 
President  to  some  such  course  of  measures,  as  the  require 
ment  of  duty,  and  the  voice  of  Providence.  Early  in  the 
war,  George  Bancroft,  "the  veteran  Democratic  politician 
and  national  historian,  who  as  a  member  of  President 
Folk's  cabinet  had  rendered  signal  and  lasting  service  in 
national  administration,"  had  said  while  presiding  at  a 
meeting  in  New  York  to  raise  funds  for  the  suffering  loyal 
ists  of  North  Carolina :  "  If  slavery  and  the  Union  are  in 
compatible,  listen  to  the  words  which  come  to  you  from  the 
tomb  of  Andrew  Jackson — 'The  Union  must  be  preserved 


WliLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  261 

at  all  hazards/  ...  If  any  one  claims  the  compro 
mises  of  the  Constitution,  let  him  begin  by  placing  the  Con 
stitution  in  power  by  respecting  it  and  upholding  it."  In 
a  letter  transmitting  these  remarks  and  the  resolutions  of 
the  meeting  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Bancroft  added:  "Your 
administration  has  fallen  upon  times  which  will  be  re 
membered  as  long  as  human  events  find  a  record.  I  sin 
cerely  wish  to  you  the  glory  of  perfect  success.  Civil  war 
is  the  instrument  of  Divine  Providence  to  root  out  social 
slavery;  posterity  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  result,  un 
less  the  consequences  of  war  shall  effect  an  increase  of  free 
States.  This  is  the  universal  expectation  and  hope  of  men 
of  all  parties." 

To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  replied :  "I  esteem  it  a  high  honor 
to  have  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Bancroft,  indorsing 
the  report  of  proceedings  of  a  New  York  meeting  taking 
measures  for  the  relief  of  Union  people  of  North  Carolina. 
I  thank  you  and  all  others  participating  for  this  benevolent 
and  patriotic  movement.  The  main  thought  in  the  closing 
paragraph  of  your  letter  is  one  which  does  not  escape  my 
attention,  and  with  which  I  must  deal  in  all  due  caution, 
and  with  the  best  judgment  I  can  bring  to  it." 

The  utterance  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  caught  up  in  the  great 
metropolis  of  the  nation,  and  echoing  back  from  all  the 
North,  satisfied  Mr.  Lincoln  that  public  sentiment  would 
sustain  him  in  it,  and  was  demanding  it  of  him.  It  only 
remained  for  him  to  decide  when  emancipation  should  be 
proclaimed,  and  under  what  circumstances  it  had  best 
be  done. 

This  brings  to  mind  an  incident  of  that  period,  and 
shows  the  position  of  Governor  Buckingham  on  the  sub 
ject.  A  delegation  from  Connecticut  visited  Washington 
to  petition  the  President  to  issue  such  a  proclamation,  and 
was  presented  by  the  Governor.  In  reply  to  the  Governor's 
address,  Mr.  Lincoln,  anxious  enough  himself  about  this 


262  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

subject,  and  pressed  on  every  side  by  those  who  were  urging 
him  on  to  emancipation,  or  who  would  dissuade  him  from 
it,  said  abruptly,  and  as  if  irritated  by  the  subject:  "  Gov- 
erior,  1  suppose  what  your  people  want  is  more  nigger." 
The  Governor,  surprised  by  an  impatience  unusual  with 
him,  and  quite  as  much  by  such  language,  probably  showed 
that  he  was  disturbed  by  it,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  changed  in 
an  instant  his  mode  of  address  to  one  of  intensest  earnest 
ness,  saying  in  substance,  that  if  anybody  supposed  he  was 
not  interested  in  this  subject,  deeply  interested,  intensely 
anxious  about  it,  it  was  a  great  mistake.  He  had  been 
doing  his  utmost  to  remove  this  chief  cause  of  the  war, 
and  rid  our  Republic  of  this  shame  and  curse.  And  when 
ever  the  time  should  come  that  he  could  proclaim  emanci 
pation,  and  the  people  would  sustain  him  in  it,  it  would  be 
the  satisfaction  of  his  life.  Indeed,  he  virtually  acknowl 
edged,  as  he  was  afterwards  free  to  confess,  that  he  had  al 
ready  registered  a  vow  in  heaven  to  free  every  slave  under 
the  necessities  of  war,  as  soon  as  God  should  give  our  arms 
success  enough  to  make  such  a  proclamation  accomplish  it. 
Governor  Buckingham's  opinions  and  convictions  upon 
this  subject  may  be  learned  from  one  of  his  executive  let 
ters  addressed  to  the  President  when  he  announced  by 
proclamation  that  he  would  emancipate  the  slaves  in  all 
the  rebel  States  which  continued  in  rebellion  after  the  first 
day  of  January,  1863.  These  preliminary  announcements 
were  issued  in  September,  1862,  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  in  which  Providence  had  given  us  the  victory  for 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  waiting.  This  letter  may  be 
regarded  as  expressive  of  the  views  and  convictions  of  the 
people  of  Connecticut,  as  of  their  Governor  : — 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  I 
HARTFORD,  September  2(5,  1802.  ( 

DBAR'SIR:— While  my  views  of  your  proclamations  issued  on  the 
22d  and  24th  instants  may  be  of  little  or  no  importance,  yet  you  will 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  263 

permit  me  to  congratulate  you  and  the  country  that  you  have  so 
clearly  presented  the  policy  which  you  will  hereafter  pursue  in  sup 
pressing  the  rebellion,  and  to  assure  you  that  it  meets  my  cordial 
approval  and  shall  have  my  unconditional  support. 

Not  that  I  think  your  declaration  of  freedom  will  of  itself  bring 
liberty  to  the  slave,  or  restore  peace  to  the  nation,  but  I  rejoice  that 
your  administration  will  not  be  prevented  by  the  clamors  of  men  in 
sympathy  with  rebels  from  using  such  measures  as  you  indicate  to 
overpower  the  rebellion,  even  if  it  interferes  with  and  overthrows 
their  much-loved  system  of  slavery. 

Have  .we  not  too  long  deluded  ourselves  with  the  idea  that  mild 
and  conciliatory  measures  would  influence  them  to  return  to  their 
allegiance'?  They  have  appealed  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword; 
why  should  we  hesitate  to  use  the  sword,  and  press  the  cause  to  a 
decision  ?  Have  we  not  undervalued  their  resources,  disbelieved  in 
their  deep  hatred  of  our  government  and  its  free  institutions,  and, 
influenced  by  erroneous  ideas  of  the  principles  of  humanity  and 
mercy,  criminally  sent  our  brave  sons  down  to  the  grave  by  thou 
sands,  without  giving  them  the  coveted  honor  of  falling  on  the  battle 
field,  and  without  having  changed  in  the  least  the  purpose  of  our 
enemies  ? 

This  little  State  has  already  sent  into  the  army  and  has  now  at  the 
rendezvous  more  than  one-half  of  her  able-bodied  men  between  the 
ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-live  years,  and  has  more  to  offer,  if  wanted, 
to  contend  in  battle  against  the  enemies  of  our  government. 

I  trust  we  shall  press  with  increased  energy  and  power  every  war 
measure,  as  the  most  economical,  humane  and  Christian  policy  which 
can  be  adopted  to  save  our  national  Union,  as  well  as  to  secure  per 
manent  peace  to  those  who  shall  succeed  us. 

With  sympathy  with  you  in  your  responsible  position  and  renewed 
assurance  of  my  cordial  support,  believe  me  with  high  regard, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

To  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  loyal  governors  were  becoming  impatient  of  the  Presi 
dent's  delay,  to  deal  a  blow  at  the  Confederacy  through  the 
vulnerability  of  their  slave  system.  They  were  satisfied 
that,  under  the  laws  of  war,  they  might  confiscate  not  only 
the  cotton  of  the  South  by  which  the  war  was  carried  on, 
but  the  slaves  who  raised  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  sure 
that  the  time  had  come  when  he  could  depend  on  the  sup 
port  of  the  people.  To  issue  such  a  proclamation,  with  no 


264  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

more  power  to  enforce  it,  might  seem,  as  he  expressed  it, 
too  much  like  "the  Pope's  bull  against  a  comet.''  He  would 
wait  until  the  Union  government  had  gained  some  impor 
tant  victory.  Then  it  was,  just  after  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
that  an  informal  meeting  of  the  loyal  governors  was  sug 
gested  and  arranged  for  at  Altoona,  Pa.,  by  Governor 
Andrew,  of  Massachusetts.  This  was  when  they  held  the 
almost  surreptitious  meeting  to  which  allusion  has  already 
been  made.  They  met  for  the  purpose  of  urging  this 
measure  on  the  President.  Learning  of  the  meeting,  and 
suspecting  the  object  of  it,  he  issued  the  proclamation  at 
once,  and  it  met  them  there,  so  that  he  forestalled  their 
consultations.  Not  that  he  was  ordinarily  impatient  at  the 
suggestions,  and  freest  advice  of  his  friends,  which  he 
courted  and  generally  considered  with  them  at  length. 
But  in  this  case,  his  long-cherished  plan,  reasonable  as  it 
was,  found  no  favor  either  North  or  South,  and  he  was  an 
noyed  by  the  importunity  of  his  friends,  as  when  that  Con 
necticut  delegation  addressed  him. 

Who  shall  say  that  the  sober  and  Christian  view  which 
these  people  took  of  this  subject,  and  to  which  the  whole 
nation,  the  South  as  well  as  the  North,  came  at  last,  was 
not  the  only  just  and  satisfactory  one  ?  The  South  insisted 
from  the  first  that  their  institution  was  justifiable,  and  that 
there  was  no  moral  element  concerned  in  their  conflict. 
The  North  tried  to  think  that  they  were  not  responsible  for 
its  existence,  certainly  not  for  its  perpetuation,  but  that 
they  had  washed  their  hands  of  it,  as  Pilate  did,  when  they 
threw  the  responsibility  of  it  upon  the  South  in  the  com 
promises  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  South  said:  "Let 
this  blood  be  upon  us  and  upon  our  children."  Both  took 
into  account  only  the  armies  they  could  bring  into  the  field, 
and  the  credit  they  could  maintain  on  the  exchange.  But 
the  result  did  not  follow  these  laws  of  force  and  of  finance. 
What  became  of  the  chivalrous  spirit  of  the  South,  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  265 

what;  of  the  financial  resources  of  the  North?  Why  were 
those  sad  months  and  years  of  war  dragging  on,  with  no 
more  decisive  and  better  results?  Why  those  repeated  calls 
for  300,000  men  on  one  side,  and  such  relentless  conscrip 
tions  on  the  other?  What  but  that  '-the  stars  in  their 
courses  were  fighting  against  Sisera,"  which  the  people  of 
that  rude  age  were  wise  enough  to  discover,  even  while  we 
in  the  bright  light  of  Christianity  were  unable  to  discern  this 
law  of  natural  religion.  As  well  ignore  the  law  of  gravi 
tation,  as  be  blind  to  the  connection  between  sin  and 
suffering,  crime  and  punishment,  the  oppression  of  weak 
nations,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  haughtiest  oppressions. 
And  why  wonder  at  our  reverses,  and  that  we  made  no 
more  progress  toward  the  right  issue,  until  we  dealt  right 
eously  with  the  real  cause  of  the  war?  "Let  mv  people 
go!"  was  the  voice  which  came  down  from  heaven,  which 
we  could  not  hear,  though  spoken  in  the  thunders  of  Sinai, 
when  the  poor  slave  heard  and  understood  it,  and  it  fell  as 
softly  and  sweetly  upon  his  ears,  as  the  carol  of  the  angels 
came  to  those  listening  shepherds  of  Judca. 

Perhaps  no  man  at  the  outset  would  have  been  less  sus 
pected  of  being  under  the  influence  of  such  a  faith  than 
General  Butler,  of  whom  his  biographer  says  :— 

Those  who  lived  in  intimate  relations  with  him,  while  in  command 
of  Xew  Orleans,  remarked  his  growing  abhorrence  of  slavery.  Dur 
ing  the  first  weeks  of  the  occupancy  of  tho  city,  he  was  occasionally 
capable,  in  the  hurry  of  endorsing  a  package  of  letters,  of  spelling 
"  negro  "  with  two  g's.  Not  so  in  the  later  months,  when  he  organized 
three  regiments  and  two  batteries  of  free  negroes  for  the  defense  of 
the  city,  and  they  made  good  soldiers.  Afterwards  he  recognized 
emancipation  as  a  necessity  and  sure  to  come,  and  said,  "God  Al 
mighty  is  doing  it.  No  man  can  stay  it.  It  is  no  other  than  the 
Omnipotent  God  who  has  taken  this  mode  of  destroying  slavery.  We 
are  but  instruments  in  his  hand.  We  could  not  prevent  it  if  we 
would.  And  let  us  strive  as  we  might,  the  judicial  blindness  of  the 
rebels  would  do  the  work  of  God  without  our  aid,  and  in  spite  of  all 
our  endeavors  against  it." — [Parton's  "  Life  of  /Sutler,"  p.  550. 


266  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  like  others,  shared  in  this  enlightenment,, 
only  he  always  regarded  himself  as  more  of  an  instrument, 
than  most  would  have  done,  in  the  hand  of  God,  to  relieve 
the.  land  in  some  w*ay  of  slavery.  Into  this  conviction  he 
had  been  growing  from  the  first,  until  in  his  second  inau 
gural  (March  4,  1865)  he  could  speak  with  such  prophetic 
insight  and  confidence,  as  follows  :— 

The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes.  "  Woe  unto  the  world  be 
cause  of  offenses.  For  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come;  but  woe 
to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh."  If  we  shall  suppose  that 
American  slavery  is  one  of  those  offenses,  which  in  the  providence  of 
God  must  needs  come,  but  which  having  continued  through  his 
appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  he  gives  to  both 
North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom 
the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern  therein  any  departure  from  the 
Divine  attribute  which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to 
him  ?  If  God  wills  that  it  shall  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled 
up  by  the  bondsman's  250  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk, 
and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by 
another  drawn  with  the  sword;  as  was  said  3,000  years  ago,  so  still  it 
must  be  said:  "The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous 
altogether." 

And  at  this  period  of  the  war,  in  an  interview  with  a 
delegation  from  Chicago,  who  came  to  urge  emancipation, 
in  explaining  his  position  and  the  difficulties  attending  it, 
he  said  :  "  Do  not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  men 
tioned  these  objections.  They  indicate  the  difficulties  that 
have  thus  far  prevented  my  action  in  some  such  way  as  you 
desire.  I  have  not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of 
liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under  advisement. 
And  I  can  assure  you  that  the  subject  is  upon  my  mind,  by 
day  and  by  night,  more  than  any  other.  Whatever  shall 
appear  to  be  God's  will,  that  will  1  do."  But  when  he  had 
proposed  to  the  border  States  the  plan  of  compensated 
emancipation, — the  most  convincing  and  satisfactory,  as  it 
seems  to  us,  that  was  ever  rejected  by  any  who  were  not 
smitten  by  judicial  blindness,  and  which  ought  to  have 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  267 

been  just  as  satisfactory  to  the  free  States  from  an  eco 
nomical  point  of  view,  if  from  no  other,  had  not  similar 
blindness  fallen  upon  them ;  and  when  he  saw  McClellan's 
well-appointed  army,  the  best  put  into  the  field  during  the 
war,  wasted  and  utterly  defeated  ;  and  found  the  two  levies 
of  300,000  each,  furnished  by  the  eighteen  loyal  governors, 
soon  after  hardly  able  to  hold  back  an  invading  army  at 
Antietam, — he  became  satisfied  that  we  were  contending 
with  Providence  in  an  unequal  strife,  not  likely  to  be  ended 
until  on  both  sides  we  were  ready  to  give  up  that  "  wedge 
of  gold  "  which  made  all  Israel  sin.  "  Then  it  was,"  says 
Mr.  Lincoln,  "  I  made  a  solemn  vow  before  God,  that  if 
General  Lee  was  driven  back  from  Maryland,  J  would 
crown  the  result  by  a  declaration  of  freedom  to  the  slaves." 

The  battle  was  fought  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  on 
the  night  of  the  19th,  that  army  retreated  across  the  Poto 
mac  into  Virginia.  On  the  22d,  the  President  issued  his 
proclamation  of  warning,  that  upon  the  first  day  of  January 
next,  every  slave  should  be  set  free,  in  any  State  or  portion 
of  a  State  then  found  in  rebellion.  And  when  that  day 
arrived,  that  decree  went  forth,  and  "the  year  of  jubilee" 
had  come.  Not  that  the  morning  broke  cloudless  and 
bright,  for  "  the  wealth  of  250  years  of  unrequited  toil  had 
not  been  sunk,  nor  the  blood  drawn  by  the  lash  paid  by  that 
drawn  with  the  sword."  But  the  blood  was  being  paid,  and 
the  wealth  sunk,  until  we  were  glad  enough,  if  the  nation 
might  be  spared,  to  bow  in  penitence  together  before  the 
Judgment  seat,  and  put  away  forever  the  accursed  thing 
which  had  so  long  made  us  sin. 

During  the  next  year,  the  Union  cause  met  with  many 
hindrances  and  some  severe  reverses.  The  autumn  had 
scarcely  passed  away  before  we  had  lost  13,000  of  our 
Northern  troops  in  an  unsuccessful  assault  on  Fredericks- 
burg,  and  17,000  more  at  Chancellorville.  And  though  Mc 
Clellan's  army  had  been  recruited  and  reorganized,  it  was 


268  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

scarcely  able  to  protect  Washington,  and  did  not  prevent 
another  invasion  of  the  Northern  States  the  next  summer. 
Immense  forces  were  gathered  and  put  into  the  field  on 
both  sides,  and  there  was  great  activity  and  vigor  displayed, 
particularly  in  the  Southwest,  and  with  varying  success, 
until  the  midsummer  of  1863,  when  the  "peace  party''  at 
the  North  began  to  say,  that  the  war  should  never  have 
been  undertaken,  and  that  the  South  could  never  be  con 
quered,  and  was  discouraging  enlistments  and  fairly  com 
promising  itself  with  treason,  when  the  great  improvement 
to  the  Union  cause  began.  General  Grant  was  coming 
into  notice,  and  was  soon  to  take  command  of  all  our 
armies  and  bring  the  struggle  to  its  proper  issue.  With 
the  indomitable  West  behind  him,  and  such  generals  as 
Sherman,  Thomas,  Rosecrans  and  Logan  around  him,  and 
with  Commodore  Foote's  fleet  in  advance  opening  the  Ten 
nessee  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  he  had  possessed  himself 
of  one  important  position  after  another,  and  driven  the 
Confederates  before  him  until  he  had  invested  \ricksburg, 
and  was  slowly  but  steadily  reducing  it  by  starvation.  All 
efforts  to  relieve  it  had  been  useless,  and  both  South  and 
North  were  watching  the  struggle  there,  as  likely  to  decide 
the  possession  of  the  great  Southwest.  It  was  in  this  state 
of  things,  when  the  bells  and  cannon  of  the  North  were 
ushering  in  the  Fourth  of  July,  1863,  tnat  the  telegraph 
announced  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  redoubled  every 
patriot's  hope.  Then,  too,  it  was  announced  that  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  was  won,  a  battle  that  was  to  this  land  what 
Waterloo  was  to  Europe,  which  had  engaged  two  armies  of 
60,000  men,  one-third  of  each  of  whom  were  to  be  reported 
killed,  wounded,  or  missing ;  a  battle  over  which  the  whole 
nation  had  hung  for  three  days,  hoping  and  fearing,  until 
news  came  that  victory  had  been  granted  to  freedom, 
union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  Republic.  This  was  the 
meaning  of  it,  which  both  North  and  South  more  than  sus- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  269 

pected  then,  though  we  could  not  fully  understand  it  as  we 
do  now,  when  all  of  us  may  rejoice  together  over  it  as  what 
was  meant  for  our  salvation  even  more  than  as  the  punish 
ment  of  our  sins.  It  meant  that  slavery  was  forever  dis 
posed  of  upon  this  continent.  It  meant  that  the  African 
slave  trade,  which  was  introduced  into  Virginia  the  very 
year  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  upon  our  New  England 
shores,  and  was  one  of  the  complaints  of  the  Colonies 
against  the  Mother  Country,  when  our  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  was  declared,  and  was  only  admitted  into  the 
Constitution  under  restrictions  which  it  was  hoped  would 
eventually  remove  it,  and  without  which  our  Constitution 
could  not  have  been  adopted ;  after  a  continuance  here  of 
two  centuries  and  a  half,  and  with  a  growth  in  the  slave 
States  equal  to  that  of  the  white  population,  and  an 
encroachment  all  the  while  upon  free  territory  and  the 
threatening  of  new  conquests  for  the  building  up  of  a  vast 
slave  republic,  whatever  that  might  have  proved  to  be ;  the 
overthrow  of  this  whole  system  came,  and  came  through 
the  struggles  and  necessities  of  war.  And  when  all  human 
strength  was  weak,  and  our  wisdom  folly,  we  were  led  to 
acknowledge  that  there  is  "  a  power,  not  ourselves,  that 
makes  for  righteousness,"  and  a  God  above  who  established 
and  enforces  such  a  law,  and  we  bow  before  Him,  with  our 
wise  and  devout  President,  saying,  "The  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
A  TURNING  POINT  IN  THE  WAR. 

Effect  of  the  Battles  of  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg — New  Develop 
ment  of  the  Peace  Party  at  This  Very  Time— The  Draft  Riots- 
Governor  Buckingham's  Vindication  for  Lending  Arms  to  Keep 
the  Peace — The  Several  Calls  for  Troops— Connecticut's  Record — 
No  Draft  in  the  State. 

The  effect  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  July  4,  1863,  and  of 
the  Confederate  defeat  at  Gettysburg,  July  1-3,  1863,  soon 
began  to  show  itself  upon  both  the  Union  and  the  Con 
federate  cause.  There  had  been  a  great  amount  of  difficult 
and  useful  work  accomplished  by  the  Union  government 
during  the  last  year,  but  since  the  defeat  of  our  Peninsular 
army  up  to  these  successes,  no  great  achievements  had 
encouraged  the  North.  We  had  built  up  a  good  navy, 
retaken  almost  all  the  forts  seized  by  the  South  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  nearly  broken  up  blockade 
running.  The  export  of  cotton  could  no  longer  do  much 
to  keep  up  the  credit  of  the  Confederacy,  while  we  were 
constantly  seizing  and  confiscating  the  swiftest  English 
steamers,  loaded  with  arms,  supplies  of  all  kinds,  and 
British  gold.  Missouri  had  been  held  in  the  Union,  and 
our  frontier  army  had  pushed  on  beyond  and  was  operating 
in  Arkansas.  The  frontier  line  of  the  Confederacy,  which 
at  first  included  within  it  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  stretch 
ing  west  to  the  Mississippi,  had  been  steadily  pushed  back 
to  Cumberland  Gap,  and  then  to  Nashville  and  to  Chatta 
nooga,  until  at  this  time  it  had  reached  Vicksburg.  Admiral 
Foote  had  opened  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  Parragut  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  271 

mouth,  while  Butler  was  holding  New  Orleans  in  his  iron 
grasp  until  Port  Hudson  fell,  as  it  did  just  after  Vicksburg, 
and  that'  grand  river  which  penetrated  so  many  States — 
each  an  empire  in  itself — was  once  more  opened  to  com 
merce.  (It  is  deemed  worthy  of  historic  record,  that 
"July  16th,  1863,  the  steamer  Imperial  arrived  at  New 
Orleans  from  St.  Louis,  the  first  boat  through  in  two 
years.")  Then  the  conscription  laws  of  the  Confederacy 
had  been  made  so  rigid — extending  the  age  of  military 
service — and  so  ruthlessly  enforced,  that  some  portions  of 
the  South,  like  East  Tennessee,  were  in  absolute  rebellion, 
and  some  of  the  State  governments,  like  North  Carolina, 
were  protesting  against  having  their  troops  sent  out  of  the 
State.  There  was  no  possibility  of  recruiting  her  armies 
again  up  to  the  size  of  Lee's  when  he  invaded  Pennsylvania, 
or  of  those  which  stood  in  the  way  of  Grant  when  he  was 
investing  Vicksburg.  Unable  to  get  her  cotton  out  of  the 
country,  but  obliged  to  burn  it  to  keep  it  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Union  forces,  and  with  few  other  means  of  purchas 
ing  supplies  abroad,  and  little  assurance  that  they  could  be 
delivered,  as  blockade  running  was  becoming  too  danger 
ous — with  gold  within  the  Confederacy  worth  eleven  hun 
dred  per  cent,  premium — the  end  might  have  been  foreseen 
as  not  far  distant.  This  was  so  well  understood  in  the 
money  market,  that  gold  in  New  York,  which  in  the  spring 
of  1863  stood  at  $145,  was  within  a  week  after  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  and  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  down  to  $125. 
The  Richmond  Examiner,  early  in  that  year,  and  before 
the  Confederacy  had  met  with  the  reverses  that  overtook 
them  that  summer,  had  taken  this  despondent  view  of  their 
prospect : — 

It  is  not  altogether  an  empty  boast  on  the  part  of  the  Yankees,  that 
they  hold  all  they  have  ever  held;  and  that  another  year  or  two  of 
such  progress  as  they  have  already  made,  will  find  them  masters  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  The  pledge,  once  deemed  foolish  by  the 
South,  that  they  would  "hold,  occupy  and  possess  all  the  forts  be- 


272 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


longing  to  the  United  States  government,"  has  been  redeemed  almost 
to  the  letter,  by  Lincoln.  Forts  Sumter  and  Morgan  we  still  retain, 
but  with  these  exceptions,  all  the  strongholds  on  the  seaboard,  from 
Fortress  Monroe  to  the  Rio  Grande,  are  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy; 
and  the  onward  march  of  Hosecrans  toward  Alabama,  the  presence  of 
Grant  in  North  Mississippi,  and  of  Curtis  in  Middle  Arkansas,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  presence  of  Banks  at  New  Orleans  and  Baton  Rouge, 
set  at  rest  the  silly  dream  that  a  thin  strip  of  seacoast  only  is  in  pos 
session  of  our  foes. — [January  20,  1863. 

Of  this  period  of  the  war,  and  the  effect  of  the  Confed 
erate  defeat  at  Vicksburg,  General  E.  W.  Law  of  the  Con 
federate  army,  who  held  an  important  command  in  that 
battle,  writes  in  his  paper  in  the  "  War  Book : " — 

Gettysburg  was  the  turning  point  in  the  great  struggle,  together 
with  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  which  occurred  simultaneously  with  the 
retreat  of  Lee's  army  toward  the  Potomac,  it  inspired  the  armies  and 
people  of  the  North  with  fresh  courage,  and  stimulated  anew  the 
hopes  of  ultimate  success,  which  were  visibly  flagging  under  an  al 
most  uninterrupted  series  of  reverses  to  the  Federal  arms  in  Virginia, 
extending  over  a  period  of  nearly  two  years.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  at  Gettysburg  that  the  right  arm  of  the  South  was  broken. — 
["  War  Book,''1  Vol.  Ill,  p.  319. 

And  yet  this  very  time  of  greatest  hope  and  promise  to 
the  Union  cause  became  the  most  critical  one  to  that  cause 
during  the  whole  war.  It  had  always  been  a  matter  of 
regret  to  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party,  as 
to  Senator  Douglas  and  to  General  Butler,  that  Secession 
should  have  been  allowed  to  gain  such  an  ascendency  under 
President  Pierce's  administration,  and  be  left  all  ready  to 
break  out  into  war  when  President  Buchanan  retired  from 
office.  And  so,  while  they  retained  their  political  prin 
ciples,  they  were  patriotic  enough  to  fight  for  the  Union. 
But  there  was  another  and  larger  class,  who  had  more  par 
tisanship  than  patriotism,  and  whose  party  the  South  had 
sustained,  and  who  had  gone  into  the  war  because  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  administration  had  supplanted  theirs ;  these  were 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  mismanagement  and  defeats  in 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  273 

our  military  operations,  and  now  opposed  the  war  altogether 
and  discouraged  enlistments  to  the  verge  of  treasonable 
conduct.  Of  this  class,  though  an  extreme  specimen,  was 
Mr.  Vallandingham,  a  member  of  Congress,  whose  course 
and  utterances  were  such  in  Ohio  that  General  Burnside, 
in  whose  military  district  he  was,  arrested  him  for  "  afford 
ing  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy/'  He  was  tried  by  court 
martial,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  confinement  during  the 
war,  a  sentence  which  the  President  changed  to  a  banish 
ment  across  the  lines,  thus  properly  sending  him  to  "  his 
own  place." 

Not  liking  his  reception  by  the  leaders  of  the  Confederacy,  to  whom 
he  had  given  the  assurance  that  they  would  succeed  if  their  armies 
could  only  hold  out  till  another  election,  when  the  Democrats  would 
sweep  the  Republicans  out  of  power,  and  make  peace,  Mr.  Vallan 
dingham  made  his  way  to  Bermuda,  and  thence  to  Canada,  where  he 
remained  for  some  time.  While  in  exile,  he  was  nominated  for  gov 
ernor  by  the  Democratic  party  in  Ohio,  but  was  defeated,  his  rival, 
John  Brough,  having  a  majority  of  more  than  100,000.  The  govern 
ment  made  no  objection  to  his  return  to  Ohio,  and  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Democratic  national  convention  at  Chicago  in  1864,  and  brought 
about  the  nomination  of  George  B.  McClellan  for  the  presidency  in 
opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election. — ["Appleton's  Biographical 
Dictionary." 

These  principles  and  positions  of  Mr.  Vallandingham, 
which  showed  themselves  earlier  in  the  obstructions  made 
to  war  measures  by  the  "  peace  party  "  in  the  Legislatures 
of  some  of  the  Northern  States,  had  gained  strength  the 
last  year.  The  "  peace  movement "  in  Connecticut  in  1862, 
when  popular  meetings  were  called  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
war,  and  were  accompanied  with  such  violent  speeches  and 
dangerous  proceedings  as  threatened  riot  and  bloodshed, 
originated  with  ex-Governor  Seymour  of  that  State,  who 
introduced  into  the  Legislature  a  resolution  adopting  the 
"  Crittenden  Compromise,"  which  assumed  that  disunion 
was  a  fixed  fact. 


274  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

He  said:  *'  There  seems  to  be  a  radical  mistake  on  the  part  of  many 
people.  They  appear  to  think  that  the  South  can  be  conquered.  Sir, 
this  is  impossible.  You  may  devastate  their  fields,  and  shed  the 
blood  of  their  people,  but  you  cannot  conquer  them."— ["  Connecticut 
in  the  War,"  p.  103. 

The  resolution  was  rejected  in  the  House  by  173  to  18. 
It  was  this  Legislature  which  was  congratulated  at  its  close 
by  one  of  its  members,  as  not  having  in  either  branch  a 
single  disloyal  member.  This  was  said  in  regard  to  a  reso 
lution  just  introduced  with  reference  to  the  "  white  flag," 
used  by  peace  men  in  disparagement  of  the  national  flag, 
and  unanimously  adopted  by  both  branches  of  the  Legisla 
ture  :  "  Resolved,  that  the  State  of  Connecticut  will  stand 
by  the  old  flag,  and  furnish  all  the  men  and  money  that  are 
required  of  her  to  put  down  this  infamous  rebellion."  It 
should  be  said  of  this  patriotic  member.  Hon.  C.  S.  Bush- 
nell  of  New  Haven,  that  under  the  severest  conditions  from 
the  government,  he  furnished  the  fund  with  which  Ericsson 
built  the  "  Monitor,"  which  had  just  then  made  our  navy 
resistless,  and  roused  the  envy  if  not  the  fear  of  the  great 
nations  of  the  world. 

It  was  a  year  after — the  middle  of  1863 — a  year  after  the 
sad  ending  of  the  Peninsular  campaign,  after  heavy  losses 
at  Chancellorville  and  Murfreesboro,  and  just  before  Vicks- 
burg  had  fallen  and  the  field  of  Gettysburg  had  been  won, 
that  the  "peace  party"  started  up  with  new  encourage 
ment  and  with  bolder  leadership.  Assuming  that  the  war 
had  failed,  and  that  the  South  could  not  be  conquered, 
great  Democratic  mass  meetings  were  held  at  Concord, 
N.  H.,  Columbus,  0.,  and  Albany,  N.  Y.,  to  protest  against 
the  suspension  of  the  right  of  habeas  corpus,  even  in  the 
stress  of  such  a  war,  against  the  drafting  of  men  for  the 
army,  when  volunteering  should  prove  insufficient,  against 
resort  to  emancipation  as  one  of  the  necessities  of  war,  and 
against  all  resort  to  force.  Ex-President  Pierce,  in  his  ad 
dress,  speaks  of  Mr.  Vallandingbam  as  the  "noble  martyr 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  275 

of  free  speech,"  and  asks  if  "we  do  not  all  know  that  the 
cause  of  ail  our  calamities  has  been  the  vicious  intermed 
dling  of  too  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  Northern  States 
with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  Southern  States,  co 
operating  with  the  discontents  of  the  people  of  those 
States,"  by  which  we  suppose  he  means,  too  much  free 
speech  at  the  North  about  slavery  and  its  encroachments. 
He  says:  "From  the  beginning  of  this  struggle  to  the 
present  moment,  my  hope  has  been  in  moral  power.  I 
repeat  then,  my  judgment  impels  me  to  rely  upon  moral 
force,  and  not  upon  any  of  the  coercive  instrumentalities  of 
military  power,"  and  this  when  a  Confederate  army  was 
already  on  its  way  to  sack  Philadelphia  and  lay  tribute 
upon  New  York !  He  adds :  "  We  have  seen  in  our  ex 
perience  of  the  last  two  years,  how  futile  are  all  efforts  to 
maintain  the  Union  by  force  of  arms,"  when  the  news  was 
already  flashing  over  the  wires  that  Vicksburg  had  fallen, 
and  Lee's  army  was  flying  from  Gettysburg,  and  the  last 
attempt  had  failed  which  would  ever  be  made  to  invade  the 
free  States. 

Hon.  Horatio  Seymour, the  uncle  of  ex-Governor  Seymour 
of  Connecticut,  was  at  this  time  governor  of  New  York ; — a 
man  of  great  personal  worth  and  much  influence  in  the 
Democratic  party  throughout  the  country.  Though  he  was 
opposed  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  presidency, 
and  did  not  believe  that  a  Republican  administration  could 
save  the  Union  when  the  war  came  on,  he  considered  him 
self  "bound  in  honor  and  patriotism  to  send  immediate 
relief  to  the  troops  in  the  field,"  and  was  particularly 
prompt  and  efficient  in  furnishing  them  when  Pennsyl 
vania  was  invaded,  for  which  he  was  specially  thanked,  both 
by  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War.  Still,  when 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued  and  the  draft 
came,  he  committed  himself  with  all  his  influence  against 
the  war  arid  against  the  administration.  In  his  "  New 


276  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

York  Academy  of  Music  address,"  before  a  vast  audience, 
he  represented  Vallandingham's  arrest  as  a  lawless  outrage,* 
and  the  impending  draft  as  a  usurpation  of  the  general 
government  which  the  States  might  properly  resist,  and 
which  his  audience  understood  him  to  mean  would  justify 
popular  insurrection,  saying  : — 

Remember  that  the  bloody,  treasonable  and  revolutionary  doctrine 
of  public  necessity  can  be  proclaimed  by  a  mob  as  well  as  by  a  gov 
ernment.— [Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  44. 

At  any  rate  it  was  under  the  influence  of  such  impressions, 
and  such  utterances  of  some  of  the  New  York  papers,  that 
within  a  fortnight  the  New  York  riots  broke  out. 

These  u  Draft  Riots,"  as  they  were  called,  began  on 
Saturday,  July  11,  1863,  and  as  the  drafting  was  suspended 
on  Sunday,  they  subsided  for  that  time,  but  only  to  be 
resumed  on  Monday  with  greater  violence,  raging  like  a 
city  fire  with  increasing  fury,  until  subdued  by  military 
force,  and  at  not  a  little  loss  of  life  to  the  rioters  as  well  as 
to  peaceable  citizens.  In  such  a  city  there  would,  of  course, 
be  found  a  large  number  who  would  not  go  into  the  army 
except  as  drafted,  and  others  who  were  bitterly  opposed 
politically  to  the  present  administration,  and  more  still  who 
looked  upon  the  negroes  as  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  were 
jealous  of  their  competition  as  laborers  when  so  many  slaves 
should  be  set  free ;  so  that  with  all  the  support  the  govern 
ment  found  there,  it  still  contained  elements  enough  to  sack 
and  burn  the  city  when  inflamed  by  unscrupulous  poli- 


*  If  there  were  ever  "treasonable  utterances"  and  "acts  dangerous  in  time  of 
war,"  it  were  his,  in  that  military  district  of  Ohio,  where  there  was  danger  of  imme 
diate  invasion,  and  where  a  conspiracy  was  organized  to  release  the  Confederate 
prisoners  collected  there.  And  the  President's  mitigation  of  his  punishment  was 
generous  in  releasing  him  from  prison  and  sending  him  to  his  own  friends,  while 
the  action  of  the  government  in  afterwards  allowing  him  to  return  to  Ohio  without 
molestation  was  magnanimous  indeed,  unless  it  had  confidence  enough  in  its  own 
wisdom  to  foretell  the  result.  For  he  was  nominated  for  governor  by  the  Dem 
ocrats  in  the  spring  of  1863,  and  was  defeated  by  John  Brough,  a  war  Democrat, 
with  a  majority  of  more  than  100.000. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM,  277 

ticians  and  reckless  newspapers.     The  city  itself  was  mag 
nificently  loyal,  as  was  shown  in  the  troops  she  furnished, 
and  the  wealth  she  poured  out  to  strengthen  the  govern 
ment  and  make  the  troops  in  the  field  comfortahle.     Then 
again,  the  military  force  of  the  city  and  of  the  State  was 
all  at  the  front,  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  by  Lee  just  at 
this  time  requiring  every  military  organization  that  could 
be  obtained  to  be  there.     In  this  state  of  things,  when  the 
disturbances  recommenced  Monday  morning  with  the  draft 
ing,  there  was  nothing  but  the  police  to  restrain  them,  and 
no  police  could  have  done  themselves  more  honor  than  these 
did  under  such  leadership  as  that  of  John  A.  Kennedy,  their 
chief,  and  Thomas  C.  Acton,  one  of  the  Police  Commis 
sioners, — the  former  of  whom  was  almost  killed  by  the  mob, 
and  the  latter,  who  for  three  consecutive  days  and  nights 
never  left  the  police  headquarters  for  a  moment,  where  by 
telegraph  he  carried  on  that  desperate  struggle  to  the  end. 
At  first  the  mob  assailed  every  colored  person  that  could 
be  caught  upon  the  street,  whether  man,  woman  or  child. 
They  were  hanged  at  the  lamp-posts,  set  on  fire  by  their 
clothing  after  they  were  hanged,  and  run  off  the  docks.     A 
colored  orphan  asylum,  where  two  hundred  orphans  were 
supported  and  taught,  under  the  patronage  and  care  of  a 
society   of  philanthropic  ladies,   was   sacked   and   burned. 
The  enrolling  office,  where  the  drafting  was  going  on,  was 
demolished,  and  the  block   of  stores  filled  with  valuable 
goods,  of  which  the  office  was  a  part,  was  rifled,  set  on  fire 
and  burned  to  the  ground.     This  work  continued  with  such 
ferocity  and  terror  from  Monday  until  Thursday,  before  the 
mob  was  brought  under  any  control.     A  few  regulars  were 
sent  from  the  neighboring  forts  arid  a  few  artillerists,  and 
while  the  former  fired  upon  those  who  were  hurling  missiles 
from  the  tops  of  the  houses,  the  latter  were  arresting  the 
inmates,  and  the  progress  of  these  riots  was  checked  for  the 
time.     But  it  required  severer  punishment  to  the  rioters, 


.278  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  more  serious  intimidation  to.  that  class  of  characters, 
before  the  city  could  be  deemed  safe.  Rev.  Morgan  Dix,  in 
the  memoirs  of  his  father.  General  Dix,  as  an  eye- witness 
of  those  scenes,  says  :— 

At  a  dozen  different  points  throughout  the  city  battles  -were  in 
progress,  and  never  was  greater  valor  displayed  than  by  the  police, 
who  threw  themselves  lion-like  upon  the  wild  beasts,  in  proportion 
generally  of  100  to  5,000,  taking  no  prisoners,  and  strewing  the  streets 
with  dead  and  wounded  wherever  their  swift  and  terrible  blows  fell. 
Thus  the  days  wore  on,  with  dust  and  smoke,  with  fire  and  flame, 
with  sack  of  private  dwellings  and  burning  of  charitable  institutions, 
armories  and  draft  stations;  with  blood  and  wounds  and  every  imag 
inable  instance  of  atrocity  on  the  part  of  the  maddened  mob,  till 
regiments  hurriedly  withdrawn  from  the  front  came  speedily  back  to 
the  city,  and  we  saw  the  grim  batteries  and  weather-stained  and 
dusty  soldiers  tramping  into  our  leading  streets,  as  if  into  a  town  just 
taken  by  siege.  There  was  some  terrific  fighting  between  the  regu 
lars  and  the  insurgents — streets  were  swept  again  and  again  by  grape, 
houses  were  stormed  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  rioters  were  picked 
off  by  sharpshooters  as  they  fired  on  the  troops  from  the  housetops, 
men  were  hurled  dying  and  dead  in  the  streets  by  the  thoroughly 
enraged  soldiery — until  at  last,  sullen  and  cowed  and  thoroughly 
whipped  and  beaten,  the  miserable  wretches  gave  way  at  every  point 
and  confessed  the  power  of  the  law.  It  has  never  been  known  how 
many  perished  in  those  awful  days.  According  to  the  lowest  esti 
mate,  some  1,200  of  the  rioters  must  have  been  killed  and  five  or  six 
times  that  number  wounded,  but  they  hid  their  losses  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  and  disposed  of  their  dead  in  silence  and  darkness. 

It  was  to  such  rioters  that  Governor  Seymour  addressed 
himself  from  the  steps  of  the  City  Hall,  in  terms  by  which 
they  understood  him  to  mean  that  he  thought  them  in  the 
right,  and  sympathized  with  them  rather  than  with  the  gov 
ernment,  and  told  them  that  he  had  sent  to  Washington  to 
have  the  drafting  stopped.  In  his  communications  with  the 
government,  he  claimed  not  only  that  the  drafting  was  un 
reasonable,  but  unconstitutional,  and  should  be  suspended 
until  that  point  was  decided  by  the  courts.  To  this  the 
President  in  reply,  not  only  argued  the  lawfulness  and  ne 
cessity  of  it,  but  that  the  necessities  of  the  case  would  not 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.    .     .  279 

allow  of  any  such  delay.  Thus  the  administration  was 
obliged  to  commit  itself,  unless  it  gave  up  its  right  to  draft 
men  for  the  army  anywhere,  against  the  Governor  of  New 
York,  and  that  great  State  itself,  so  far  as  he  represented 
it.  How  unfairly  the  Governor  represented  the  State  was 
soon  shown,  for  at  the  next  election  his  previous  majority 
of  over  10,000  was  reversed  by  one  of  nearly  30,000  for  the 
Republican  State  ticket.  As  it  was,  the  State  had  to  suffer 
the  odium  of  his  administration,  and  its  influence  had  been 
such  upon  New  York  city,  that  in  the  presidential  election 
of  the  next  year,  the  general  government  felt  obliged  to  put 
the  city  under  martial  law  for  fear  of  the  riots  allowed- 
there  in  connection  with  the  draft.  War  vessels  and  trans 
ports,  loaded  with  troops  under  General  Butler,  were  drawn 
up  before  the  city  and  secured  a  quiet  election.  This  was 
the  only  time  during  the  war  when  freemen  at  the  North 
needed  soldiers  to  protect  them  at  the  polls.* 

It  was  during  the  riots  in  New  York  that  similar  dis 
turbances  took  place  elsewhere,  and  were  threatened  in 
Connecticut.  The  "white  flag"  meetings  of  1862  were  re 
peated  as  the  "  peace  meetings "  of  1863.  In  the  Demo 
cratic  State  convention  this  year,  while  the  resolutions 
denounce  "  the  heresy  of  Secession  as  unwarranted  by  the 
Constitution,"  they  affirm  that  ''the  time  has  come  when 
all  true  lovers  of  the  Constitution  are  ready  to  abandon  the 
monstrous  fallacy,  that  the  Union  can  be  restored  by  the 
armed  hand."  The  influence  of  such  sentiments,  and  the 
position  of  such  a  party,  was  particularly  unfortunate,  when 
the  State  was  being  called  upon  for  more  troops,  and  these 


*  The  following  incident  is  a  suggestive  reminiscence  of  that  period  of  the  war. 
General  B.  F.  Butler  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress 
from  Massachusetts,  and  from  the  Gloucester  District.  Mr.  Fernando  Wood  was 
also  a  member  from  New  York  city,  where  he  had  been  mayor.  In  the  course  of 
debate  he  referred  to  General  Butler  as  the  "Duke  of  Gloucester,1'  to  which  he 
replied  that  while  "  I  am  too  modest  to  accept  that  noble  appellation,  if  the  hon 
orable  gentleman  had  styled  me  the  'Duke  of  York,'  I  would  have  gratefully 
accepted  that  title,  for  T  did  give  New  York  one  honest  election." 


280  „          WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

calls  were  constantly  repeated,  and  a  draft  was  threatened 
if  volunteering  did  not  furnish  them.  Prominent  citi 
zens  of  the  State,  and  business  men  with  large  property 
exposed  to  such  a  peril,  were  appealing  to  the  governor 
for  protection,  or  for  arms  with  which  to  protect  them 
selves.  Even  the  mayor  of  New  York  was  calling 
upon  him  for  some  of  his  troops  to  help  quell  the  riots 
there.*  In  this  state  of  things  Governor  Buckingham 
called  for  the  organization  of  two  battallions  of  volunteer 
infantry,  for  the  State  volunteers  were  all  in  the  field,  and 
the  State  militia  had  been  hurried  away  to  the  defense  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  also  put  in  charge  of  trustworthy  indi 
viduals  in  different  parts  of  the  State  a  certain  number  of 
arms  and  rounds  of  ammunition,  with  which  to  keep  the 
peace  in  their  own  neighborhood,  and  protect  their  own 
property.  Union  Leagues  also  were  organized  in  almost 
every  town,  which  were  resolutely  loyal,  both  to  the  Union 
and  to  good  order  at  home,  and  with  their  aid  and  the 
general  public  sentiment  of  an  old  New  England  popula 
tion,  so  different  from  the  mixed  and  largely  foreign  popu 
lation,  there  was  no  serious  outbreak,  or  open  resistance  to 
the  draft.  Indeed  no  draft  was  actually  enforced  there, 
as  the  State  filled  her  quota  by  volunteering.  So  that 
season  of  anxiety,  and  of  peril  too,  passed  over  safely,  and 
the  Governor  in  his  Thanksgiving  proclamation  that  year 
refers  to  it  as  something  for  which  special  thanks  were  due 
to  the  Most  High ;  that  "  He  has  preserved  us  from  those 
outbursts  of  passion  which  in  other  communities  have  dis 
regarded  lawful  restraints  and  violated  the  public  peace/' 


*  It  was  during  these  riots  that  Mayor  Opdyke  and  General  Worth  telegraphed  to 
Governor  Buckingham  to  let  them  have  one  of  his  regiments— a  regiment  just 
returning  from  the  front— to  help  them  keep  the  peace  in  New  York.  It  had 
reached  home  and  been  disbanded.  A  peace  man  asked  a  friend  of  the  Governor, 
"Would  he  have  done  it?"  and  the  answer  came  back,  "Of  course  he  would. 
Didn't  New  York  send  Connecticut  more  than  two  regiments  to  vote  against  his 
re-election  in  1860? "  That  had  been  swift  and  righteous  retribution,  but,  fortunately 
it  was  not  needed. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  281 

as  well  as  "  inspired  us  with  increased  faith  in  His  designs 
to  overcome  every  obstacle  to  the  ultimate  triumph  of  jus 
tice  and  equity,  and  to  subordinate  every  sentiment  to  the 
advancement  of  truth  and  righteousness." 

At  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature,  however,  which 
was  held  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  the  Governor  was  called  to 
account  for  those  measures  taken  to  preserve  the  peace  of 
the  State,  judicious  and  successful  as  they  proved.  A  reso 
lution  was  adopted,  setting  forth  a  belief  that  rifles,  mus 
kets  and  pistols  had  been  taken  illegally  "  from  their  proper 
places  of  deposit,  and  delivered  to  individuals,  or  organized 
bodies  of  men  not  recognized  by  the  military  law  of  the 
State,"  and  calling  upon  the  Governor  for  information.  His 
Excellency  replied  in  a  message,  of  which  the  following  is 
an  extract:— 

In  July  last  a  large  number  of  men  in  the  city  of  New  York,  under 
the  influence  of  leaders  hostile  to  the  National  Union,  and  in  sym 
pathy  with  rebellion,  banded  together  to  resist  the  draft  ordered  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  under  congressional  authority. 

They  at  once  became  an  infuriated  mob;  they  compelled  men  to 
leave  their  labors  and  close  their  places  of  business;  they  went  from 
house  to  house,  and  from  street  to  street,  overpowering  whatever 
obstacles  impeded  their  progress.  Arson,  pillage  and  robbery  were 
unrestrained.  Innocent  citizens  were  beaten,  shot  and  hung.  The 
rioters  became  a  power  so  formidable  that  they  could  not,  even  by  the 
most  solemn  pledges  that  their  alleged  grievances  should  be  redressed, 
be  persuaded  to  desist  from  their  hellish  work.  They  held  the  city, 
with  its  untold  wealth  and  millions  of  people,  for  days  in  the  terrors 
of  anarchy. 

At  the  same  time  riotous  demonstrations  were  made  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  and  without  concert  of  action,  gentlemen  resid 
ing  in  various  sections  of  this  State,  whose  opinions  and  judgment 
are  entitled  to  high  consideration,  represented  the  danger  in  their 
respective  localities  in  the  following  language:  "  Those  who  oppose 
the  draft  are  making  every  effort  to  unite  themselves  together  for 
resistance."  "  There  is  no  doubt  of  an  organization  here  to  resist  the 
draft.'1  "  Threats  of  resistance  are  loud  and  frequent  in  our  midst." 
"Notices  have  been  posted,  threatening  those  who  aid  the  draft." 
44  Men  have  pledged  themselves  to  break  the  boxes  which  contain  the 
names  of  men  enrolled  for  the  draft."  "Secret  meetings  have  been 


282  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

held,  at  which  it  had  been  determined  to  commence  open  resistance 
on  the  night  of  a  given  day,  but  for  some  reason  it  was  postponed." 
"  I  want  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  guard  my  property  from  the 
mob  which  is  likely  to  arise  to  pillage  and  burn."  "  I  do  not  take 
counsel  of  my  fears  when  I  assure  you  that  I  anticipate  an  outbreak 
in  this  place."'  "  These  disturbances  throughout  the  country  are  the 
result  of  a  combination  of  traitors  both  North  and  South." 

In  this  critical  and  alarming  condition  of  public  affairs,  men  of 
true  and  well-known  patriotism,  belonging  to  both  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties,  offered  their  services  to  preserve  public 
order,  and  made  requisition  upon  the  Executive  for  arms.  In  exam 
ining  the  statutes,  I  found  authority  to  furnish  the  active  militia 
and  the  enrolled  militia  when  ordered  into  active  service,  with  arms, 
and  nothing  to  prohibit  the  use  of  them  by  others  whenever  public 
necessity  requires.  Also  that  no  place  is  designated  for  the  deposit 
of  arms  purchased  by  the  State,  and  not  in  the  hands  of  the  militia, 
and  that  the  commander-in-chief  may  issue  such  orders  as  he  shall 
judge  expedient  to  carry  into  execution  the  intents  of  an  act  relating 
to  the  militia,  which  act  is  especially  intended  to  give  him  full  power 
and  authority  to  use  both  the  active  and  inactive  militia  to  prevent 
rebellion  and  insurrection. 

Considering  our  perilous  condition,  and  the  fact  that  the  active 
militia  of  the  State,  including  the  Governor's  Guards,  was  composed 
of  less  than  1,000  men,  orders  were  issued  from  this  department  for 
the  transmission  of  arms  to  the  following  persons,  residing  in  the 
towns  herein  named,  upon  the  execution  of  proper  bonds  for  their 
safe  keeping  and  return: — 

1868. 

.July  14,  William  T.  Miner,  Stamford,  -  65 muskets  and  sets  of  accoutrements. 
"  15,  Dexter  R.  Wright.  Meriden.  -  200 
"  18,  Joshua  Kendall,  Derby,  -  -  60 
"  18,  D.  W.  Plumb,  Derby,  -  -  -  40 
"  20,  Elisha  Carpenter,  Danielsonville,  80 
"  20,  Thomas  Guyer,  Norwalk,  -  -  60 
"  21,  Major  F.  W.  Russell,  Portland,  40 
"  21,  Gilbert  W.  Phillips,  Putnam,  -  80 
11  21,  Captain  A.  Seeley,  Stamford,  -  50 
"  24,  Rufus  Smith.  Litchfield,  -  -  40 

Total.     -  715 

Prior  to  the  assembling  of  your  honorable  body,  400  of  the  above, 
described  muskets  and  as  many  sets  of  accoutrements  were  returned 
to  the  State  arsenal  or  transferred  to  military  companies  newly 
organized  in  the  town,  where  the  arms  were  sent. 

Exceptions  might  be  taken  to  the  language  of  the  resolution,  which, 
assuming  that  the  Executive  has  acted  without  legal  authority,  call* 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  283 

upon  him  for  proof,  but  I  prefer  to  have  every  public  act  of  mine, 
together  with  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  it,  fully  known, 
and  most  cheerfully  submit  to  your  deliberate  judgment,  and  to  the 
impartial  decision  of  your  constituents,  whether  such  Executive 
action  has  put  in  jeopardy  the  rights  or  the  person  of  any  law-abidin  : 
citizen,  and  whether  the  Executive  would  not,  under  the  circumstance  s 
by  which  he  was  surrounded,  have  proved  faithless  to  the  high  trust  - 
committed  to  him  by  a  confiding  people,  if  he  had  not  placed  the  urm^ 
of  the  State  where  they  could  have  been  used  to  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  law  and  preserve  public  tranquillity. 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

This  explanation  was,  of  course,  satisfactory.  In  the 
meantime  the  draft  had  never  been  enforced  in  Connecticut. 
For  though  there  had  been  an  enrollment  of  all  capable  of 
military  service,  the  quota  of  the  State  had  always  been 
supplied  by  volunteers.  True,  bounties  were  paid,  and  by 
the  middle  of  the  war  they  becamo  large  and  generous. 
But  labor  was  in  great  demand  and  wages  high,  and  few 
could  afford  to  enlist  for  three  years  for  any  bounty.  Then 
those  who  were  chiefly  influenced  by  such  a  consideration, 
and  were  known  in  the  army  as  "  hired  substitutes  v  and 
"  bounty  jumpers,"  were  comparatively  few.  The  substi 
tutes  were  largely  foreigners,  and  many  had  seen  service  in 
other  armies.  Some  of  these  names  were  found  in  every 
rank  of  the  army,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  and  not  a 
few  attained  to  distinguished  promotion.*  The  rivalry  of 
towns  in  offering  high  bounties  did  at  one  time  threaten 

*  Surgeon  Mayer,  of  one  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  writes  of  them  from  the 
field  :  "The  conscripts  themselves,  or  rather  the  substitutes,  for  there  is  hardly  a 
drafted  man  among  them,  truly  comprise  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  We 
Have  Ellsworth's  and  Hawkins1  Zouaves,  as  well  as  Billy  Wilson's.  Full  half  of  the 
consignment  have  served  before  in  our  own,  or  in  European  armies.  We  have 
quite  a  number  of  English,  Irish  and  German  regulars,  who  came  to  this  country 
for  the  purpose  of  enlisting.  They  have  taken  the  substitute  money  and  entered 
the  army  at  better  wages  than  they  over  received  before.  They  esteem  their  bar 
gain  a  good  one,  and  intend  to  do  good  service.  I  have  talked  with  many  of  this 
class,  as  well  as  my  limited  knowledge  of  German  would  admit,  and  find  them  ap 
parently  reliable  and  honorable  men.  They  express  themselves  much  better 
pleased  with  our  service  than  with  that  of  the  European  armies.  Many  of  them 
save  their  money,  a,nd  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  sent  to  New  York  and  else 
where  by  them  since  their  arrival. — \" Conufctieut  in  the  War.1'  p.  462. 


284  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

them  with  perplexity  and  seemed  likely  to  involve  them 
in  lawsuits  and  insolvency,  so  that  the  Governor  called  a 
special  session  of  the  Legislature  to  consider  the  matter, 
and  it  was  prohibited. 

Bounties  were  still  paid  by  the  general  government,  the 
State  government,  and  individuals.  Patriotic  men,  who 
could  not  go  into  the  service,  were  glad  to  send  a  substitute. 
The  general  government  could  afford  to  offer  any  bounty 
that  was  necessary  to  secure  men,  while  the  State  would 
gladly  supplement  it  to  prevent  a  draft.  But  the  main 
dependence  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  the  increase 
of  our  armies,  was  generally  felt  to  be,  in  the  necessities  of 
the  case  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  The  expectation 
of  finishing  the  war  speedily,  and  with  little  cost  of  life  and 
money,  had  been  abandoned.  Governor  Buckingham,  from 
the  first,  had  been  urging  upon  the  government  the  enlist 
ment  of  more  men,  and  for  three  years,  or  the  war,  instead 
of  nine  months  or  a  year.  Somewhat  earlier  than  this,  he 
had  written  to  the  War  Department,  when  inquired  of  as  to 
what  progress  he  was  making  in  raising  troops  :  "  I  have 
not  for  a  year  favored  enlistments  for  nine  or  twelve 
months,  and  all  troops  enlisted  from  this  State  are  for  three 
years.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  raise  volunteers  for  one 
year  when  they  cannot  be  secured  for  a  longer  period." 
And  to  the  President,  who  inquires,  "  What  progress  is 
making  in  recruiting  for  old  regiments  in  your  State  ?"  he 
telegraphs  back,  " Recruiting  for  old  regiments  goes  slowly: 
for  new,  everything  looks  promising.  Four  more  regiments 
will  be  forwarded  within  a  month  or  six  weeks." 

The  attempt  to  embarrass  the  administration  by  discourag 
ing  enlistments,  the  demand  that  the  war  should  st;>p  and 
be  settled  by  compromises,  had  signally  failed,  and  after 
our  important  successes  at  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg, 
where  the  real  resources  of  the  South  and  of  the  North  had 
been  thoroughly  tested,  and  we  gained  all  the  encourage- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  285 

ment  which  they  lost,  the  great  crisis  of  the  war  proved  to 
have  been  passed,  in  this  midsummer  of  1863. 

Now  came  the  calls  for  the  filling  up  of  our  armies. 
They  were  to  be  recruited  up  to  their  highest  standard 
of  numbers,  which  had  been  sadly  depleted  by  our  reverses 
on  the  Peninsula,  and  also  by  our  very  successes  in  the 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  campaigns,  and  the  campaign 
about  Vicksburg.  We  had  suffered  much  from  our  short 
terms  of  enlistment  and  from  sending  raw  troops  into  the 
most  critical  battles,  as  at  Antietam.  This  point  of  inferi 
ority  was  to  be  remedied,  before  we  could  expect  to  meet 
our  opponents' with  any  uniform  success.  In  this  respect 
the  Confederates  for  a  long  time  had  the  advantage  of  us, 
as  those  who  once  entered  the  service  were  kept  there  to 
the  end,  and  acquired  that  perfect  discipline  but  for  which 
such  a  charge  as  "  Pickett's  last  charge  "  never  could  have 
been  made.  With  troops  enlisted  for  only  nine  months  or 
a  year,  and  their  term  of  enlistment  expiring  perhaps  on 
the  very  eve  of  a  battle,  what  campaign  like  Grant's  in 
Mississippi,  or  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea,  could  ever  have 
been  undertaken  ?  But  with  the  offer  of  the  loyal  Germans 
to  meet  any  requisitions  made  upon  them,  and  with  the 
power  given  by  Congress  to  the  President  to  make  any 
demands  that  the  preservation  of  the  Union  should  require, 
we  shall  see,  in  the  present  exigencies  of  the  war  and 
determination  of  the  people,  what  was  done. 

See  what  calls  were  made  for  troops  and  upon  one  of  the 
smaller  States,  which  at  that  time  had  a  population  of  less 
than  half  a  million  (460,000),  not  one-fifth  that  of  Ohio, 
and  less  than  one-eighth  of  New  York. 

The  Count  of  Paris,  in  his  military  history  of  our  war— 
which  is  considered  exact  and  impartial — states  that  during 
the  first  nine  months  of  the  war,  as  reported  to  Congress  at 
its  session  in  December,  1861,  the  Union  government  had 
enlisted  680,000  men,  640,000  of  them  in  our  volunteer 


286 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


army,  20,000  in  the  regular  army,  and  as  many  more  in  the 
navy.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  demand  for  troops 
was  all  the  while  increasing  rather  than  diminishing  for 
the  next  three  years,  we  get  some  idea  of  what  was  accom 
plished  when  we  find  that  the  loyal  States  had  furnished 
2,778.304  troops  before  the  end  was  reached. 

A  summary  of  the  calls  for  troops  may  be  of  interest 
here.  The  first  was  for  75,000;  immediately  after  the  de 
feat  at  Bull  Run,  500,000  more  were  called  for,  and  400,000 
immediately  put  into  the  field.  The  next  year,  after  the 
Peninsular  campaign,  came  a  call  for  300,000  three-years' 
men,  and  300,000  nine-months'  men.  Tne  invasion  of 
Pennsylvania  came  soon  after  and  made  a  heavy  draft  on 
the  militia  of  that  State.*  In  the  summer  of  1863  came 
another  call  for  100,000  men,  and  in  October  for  300,000, 
besides  50,000  Pennsylvania  militia  and  thirty  regiments 
from  New  York ;  in  February,  1864,  came  a  call  for  500,000, 
to  be  raised  by  draft,  if  volunteering  was  insufficient ;  in 
March  for  200,000,  and  in  July  for  500,000,  these  last  to 
make  good  the  places  of  men  about  to  be  mustered  out 
of  the  service.  All  these  demands  upon  the  North  were 
willingly  accepted  for  the  sake  of  the  cause.  These  two 
million  or  more,  of  every  class,  and  condition,  and  culture, 
who  were  found  capable  of  military  service,  submitted  to 
the  hardships  and  bared  their  bosoms  to  the  shot  of  battle 
to  save  the  Republic.  Yet  every  State  furnished  its  quota, 
and  some  of  them,  like  Connecticut,  never  submitted  to 
a  draft.  True,  high  bounties  were  offered,  but  with  the 


*  Governor  I'urtin  responded  so  vigorously  to  the  first  call  for  troops,  that  when 
General  Patterson,  who  was  in  command  in  Pennsylvania,  asked  for  25,000  more, 
they  were  immediately  furnished.  General  Patterson's  requisition  was  afterwards 
revoked  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  ground  that  the  troops  were  not  needed ; 
but  Goveinor  Curtin,  instead  of  disbanding  them,  obtained  authority  from  the 
Legislature  to  equip  them  at  the  State's  expense,  and  hold  them  subject  to  the  call 
of  the  national  government.  This  body  of  men  became  known  as  the  ''Penn 
sylvania  Reserves,"  and  was  accepted  by  the  authorities  at  Washington  a  few 
weeks  later. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  287 

high  prices  paid  at  that  time  for  labor,  skill  and  character, 
there  were  few  who  could  not  do  better  in  the  ordinary 
industries  of  life  than  to  enlist  into  the  army.  And  the 
promptness  of  spirit  with  which  these  heavy  and  repeated 
demands  made  upon  them  for  troops  was  met,  is  also  almost 
as  creditable  to  them  as  the  number  they  furnished. 

This  State  had  already  put  20,000  organized  and  well- 
equipped  troops  into  the  field.  The  government  having 
discontinued  the  recruiting  service  in  every  State  not  long 
before,  and  justified  the  impression  that  the  army  was  strong- 
enough  for  any  probable  contingency,  the  people  were  de 
voting  themselves  diligently  and  profitably  to  their  business, 
and  had  to  be  roused  to  their  duties  to  their  country  and 
the  perils  of  the  hour.  War  meetings  were  held  in  every 
town,  and  in  some  of  them  every  day.  The  selectmen  of 
the  towns  were  appealed  to  by  the  Adjutant- General  of  the 
State  to  hold  such  meetings,  and  "  set  forth  to  the  people 
the  exigencies  of  the  present  hour ; "  "  to  pledge  private 
means  to  assist  volunteers,  or  their  families,"  and  to  appoint 
men  "  of  energetic  habits  and  patriotic  impulses  to  act  as 
recruiting  officers."  It  was  recommended  that  each  county 
should  raise  a  regiment  of  its  own  and  every  town  supply 
its  own  quota,  and  where  there  was  any  deficiency  it  should 
be  supplied  out  of  the  excess  of  other  places,  which  was 
carried  out. 

Among  the  large  and  spirited  meetings  held,  as  soon  as 
Governor  Buckingham  had  issued  his  appeal  for  volunteers, 
and  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  specimen  of  the  rest,  was 
the  one  at  New  Haven,  where  Commodore  Foote,  fresh  from 
his  services  in  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson, 
and  in  opening  the  Upper  Mississippi,  presided,  and  ad 
dresses  made  by  the  Governor,  Senator  Dixon,  Rev.  Dr. 
Bacon  and  others.  The  places  for  volunteering  were  con 
stantly  frequented,  and  at  New  Haven  on  the  morning  of 
the  day  when  the  draft  was  to  have  been  made  if  the  quota 


288  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

had  not  been  filled,  we  are  told  that  "  an  immense  crowd, 
estimated  at  from  three  to  five  thousand,  gathered  at  the 
north  portico  of  the  State  House.  At  noon  fifty-two  men 
had  volunteered ;  at  3.45  P.  M.  twenty-five  men  were 
needed  to  fill  the  quota.  The  selectmen  gave  notice  that 
the  draft  would  begin  at  4  o'clock.  They  delayed  half  an 
hour  more,  when  it  was  announced  that  the  quota  of  New 
Haven  was  full,  and  there  would  be  no  draft.  Similar 
scenes  were  enacted,  on  a  smaller  scale,  in  other  towns,  and 
within  a  few  weeks  the  entire  quota  was  furnished  and  the 
regiments  were  full."  The  result  is  thus  told  in  "  Connecti 
cut  in  theWar,"  page  254  : — 

Again  Connecticut  had  achieved  a  giant's  work.  In  two  months, 
from  a  condition  of  apathy  and  over-confidence,  she  had  roused  to  an 
enthusiastic  war-spirit,  and  had  raised,  equipped,  and  sent  to  the 
field,  fifteen  full  regiments,  or  an  average  of  about  a  hundred  able- 
bodied  men  from  every  town.  She  was  probably  not  the  first  to  fill 
her  quota,  as  The  Tribune  and  some  other  newspapers  at  the  time  an 
nounced;  for  the  response  of  Iowa  appears  to  have  preceded  ours; 
but  Connecticut  answered  the  requisition  before  any  other  Eastern 
State,  and  elicited  from  the  Boston  Traveller  the  comment:  "Con 
necticut  has  behaved  splendidly  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and 
means  to  persevere  in  well-doing  to  the  end.  She  does  not  brag  so 
much  as  some  other  States,  but  she  does  much  useful  work.  She 
worships  the  Union  and  believes  that  work  is  worship." 


CHAPTER  XVTI. 
CONNECTICUT  SOLDIERS. 

Why  Many  Officers  were  Chosen  from  Civil  Life — Their  Honorable 
Record  in  the  Service— The  Work  of  Equipping  Enlisted  Regi 
ments — Training  Camps — Governor  Buckingham's  Personal  Care 
for  Soldiers  in  the  Field,  and  the  Respect  he  Paid  to  Men  who 
Fought  for  the  Union. 

Lest  it  should  be  thought  that  the  work  of  the  States  in 
supplying  the  general  government  with  troops  was  finished, 
when  their  several  quotas  were  furnished,  it  should  be  said 
that  it  had  only  begun.  These  fresh  volunteers  were  to 
be  put  into  camp,  equipped,  armed,  drilled,  the  cavalry 
mounted,  the  batteries  supplied  with  guns  and  horses,  and 
the  whole  furnished  with  ambulances  and  army  wagons, 
and  whatever  else  was  needful  for  a  campaign,  before  they 
were  transferred  to  the  government.  This  was  all  to  be 
done  at  the  expense  of  the  States,  to  be  repaid  by  the  gov 
ernment,  to  be  sure,  if  the  government  should  be  main 
tained  ;  otherwise  such  claims  would  have  been  as  worth 
less  as  those  of  the  Confederacy  proved  to  be.  This  was 
one  of  the  patriotic  features  of  the  struggle  on  the  part  of 
the  Northern  States.  Their  credit  was  often  better  than 
that  of  the  government,  and  they  allowed  the  government 
to  have  the  benefit  of  it  and  become  indebted  to  them,  on 
such  favorable  terms,  to  an  almost  incredible  extent.  Con 
necticut  at  this  very  time  was  negotiating  loans,  and  making 
expenditures,  at  the  rate  of  $4,000,000  a  year,  and  this  was 
chiefly  for  the  maintenance  of  the  army.  To  begin  with, 
camps  had  to  be  established  and  maintained  in  every  State 


290  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

where  recruits  were  to  be  organized  and  prepared  for  the 
field.  Here  they  were  retained  for  months,  if  not  till  the 
end  of  the  war,  awaiting  the  government's  requisition. 
And  even  then  they  were  to  be  transported,  infantry, 
cavalry  and  artillery,  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  to  any 
point  designated  by  the  government.  The  "  Pennsylvania 
Reserve,"  as  it  was  called,  which  furnished  so  many  valu 
able  troops  in  an  emergency,  was  only  a  large  body  of  her 
militia,  kept  in  camp  and  under  constant  drill,  so  that 
when  veterans  were  wanted,  the  nearest  equivalent  to  them 
might  be  found  there.  80  Connecticut  had  her  camps,  one 
at  Hartford,  another  at  New  Haven,  and  still  others  at  Nor 
wich  and  Middletown.  These  camps  at  home  were  scenes 
of  intensest  activity,  where  troops  were  mustering  and 
being  drilled,  and  where  all  the  equipments  of  war  were 
being  collected,  and  whence  were  going  forth  with  each  de 
parting  regiment  as  much  of  noble  and  tender  sympathy  as 
human  souls  are  capable  of. 

The  Governor  of  Connecticut  was  favored  in  having  at 
this  time  the  assistance  of  Captain  Daniel  Tyler,  a  resident 
of  Norwich,  a  native  of  the  State,  a  graduate  of  West 
Point,  and  the  only  professional  soldier  in  the  first  three 
regiments  furnished.  He  was  at  once  offered  the  position 
of  brigadier  of  the  State  militia,  and  accepted  it  on  con 
dition  that  all  its  duties  should  be  "performed  without 
remuneration  for  services  rendered  or  expenses  incurred." 
He  was  put  in  command  of  the  first  Connecticut  regiment 
that  was  sent  forward,  and  was  the  first  that  arrived  in 
Washington  from  any  State,  thoroughly  equipped,  being 
furnished  not  only  with  tents,  but  with  a  complete  baggage 
train,  which  the  government  was  obliged  to  borrow  the 
next  day  to  distribute  rations  to  other  troops.  This  was 
the  first  regiment  to  come  up  the  Potomac,  where  they  were 
met  down  the  river  by  President  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet 
and  cordially  welcomed.  They  were  provided  with  50,000 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  291 

rounds  of  ammunition,  and  rations  and  forage  for  twenty 
days.  At  the  recommendation  of  General  Scott,  their 
commander  was  at  once  made  brigadier  general  of  volun 
teers.  This  First  Connecticut  Regiment  was  taken  for  a 
model  of  equipment  by  other  States,  and  before  its  depar 
ture,  agents  from  New  York,  Massachusetts,  Maine  and 
Vermont  had  visited  New  Haven  to  examine  and  copy  it.* 
The  difficulty  of  finding  professional  soldiers,  or  those  who 
had  any  military  training  whatever,  to  put  in  charge  of 
these  new  regiments,  was,  as  has  been  intimated,  one  which 
beset  all  our  Northern  governors.  They  would  naturally 
look  for  officers  and  commanders  to  those  who  had  such 
positions  in  the  State  militia,  but  holiday  training  was  seen 
to  be  a  very  different  thing  from  the  service  of  actual  war. 
Then  they  turned  to  those  who  had  seen  service  in  the 
Mexican  war,  the  only  war  known  to  that  generation,  and 
there  were  so  few  at  the  North  who  took  any  part  in  that 
war,  that  it  did  little  to  supply  the  immediate  necessity. 
Thus  the  State  executives  were  compelled  to  exercise  their 
best  judgment,  and  commission  men  mostly  from  civil  life. 
It  was  probably  thought  at  the  time,  that  Governor  Buck 
ingham  was  running  great  risks  in  committing  such  im 
portant  trusts  to  so  many  young  men,  and  to  such  as  had 
no  military  training  whatever.  But  the  list  of  those  who 
held  such  positions  under  his  commission,  vindicates  his 
judgment  by  the  promotions  conferred  upon  such  by  the 
general  government,  as  well  as  upon  those  who  had  a  mili 
tary  education,  and  the  honor  they  all  conferred  upon  the 
nation  by  distinguished  services.  All  the  governors  must 
have  experienced  the  same  difficulty,  and  must  have  been 

*  General  Tyler  and  the  Connecticut  troops  took  an  important  part  in  the  first 
and  most  disastrous  battle  of  Bull  Run,  where  he  had  command  of  the  first  and 
largest  division,  consisting  of  12,000  men.  And  while  he  has  been  charged  with 
rashness  in  making  the  first  attack,  he  should  certainly  be  credited  with  holding 
his  troops  to  their  formations  in  the  midst  of  such  a  disorderly  retreat,  and  for 
protecting  such  a  mass  of  fugitives  and  bringing  off  such  an  amount  of  property 
as  would  otherwise  have  been  captured. 


292  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

able  to  furnish  much  the  same  evidence  of  their  fidelity  to 
this  important  trust. 

THE  GENERALS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  natives  or  citizens  of  Connecticut,  or 
officers  of  Connecticut  regiments,  who  became  general  officers  during 
the  war.  Other  eminent  generals  were  sons  or  grandsons  of  Connec 
ticut  men,  as  Grant,  Sherman,  McClellan,  Pope  and  Wadsworth.  The 
town  of  which  the  name  is  appended  is  either  birthplace  or  resi 
dence.  Where  two  towns  are  named,  the  first  indicates  the  birth 
place;  the  second,  subsequent  residence.  Where  a  brevet  is  men 
tioned,  the  officer  held  the  full  rank  below,  except  where  other 
wise  mentioned: — 

Abbott,  Henry  L.,  colonel  and  brevet-major  general,  Beverly,  Mass. 

Benham,  Henry  W.,  major-general,  Meriden. 

Birge,  Henry  W.,  brevet-major-general,  Norwich. 

Bradley,  Luther  P.,  brigadier-general,  New  Haven. 

Blakeslee,  Erastus,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Plymouth-New  Haven, 

Carrington,  Henry  B.,  brigadier-general,  Wallingford. 

Clark,  William  T.,  brigadier- general,  Norwalk. 

Couch,  Darius  N.,  major-general,  Danbury-New  Haven. 

Ely,  William  G.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Norwich. 

Ellis,  Theodore  G.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Hartford. 

Ferry,  Orris  S  ,  brigadier-general,  Bethel-Norwalk. 

Goodyear,  E.  D.  S.,  lieutenant-colonel  and  brevet-brigadier-general,  North  Haven. 

Greeley,  Edwin  S.,  brevet-brigadier-geueral.  New  Haven. 

Harland,  Edward,  brigadier-general,  Norwich 

Hawley,  Joseph  R.,  brevet-major-general,  Hartford. 

tlubbard,  James,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Salisbury. 

Ives,  Brayton,  brevet-brigadier-general,  New  Haven. 

Judd,  Henry  M.,  brigadier-general,  Westport. 

Ketchum,  William  S.,  brigadier-genera!,  Norfolk. 

Lyon,  Nathaniel,  brigadier-general,  Eastford. 

Lee,  Edward  M.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Guilford. 

Loomis.  Gustavus,  brevet-brigadier-^eneral,  Stratford. 

Loomis,  John,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Windsor. 

Mansfield,  Joseph  K.  F.,  major-general,  Middletown. 

Mower,  Joseph  A.,  major-general,  New  London. 

Mackenzie,  Ronald  S.,  brigadier-general  (Second  Artillery). 

Newton,  John,  major-general,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Noble,  William  H.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Bridgeport. 

Otis,  John  L.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Manchester. 

Perkins,  Joseph  G.,  brevet-brigadier-general.  New  London 

Pierson,  William  S..  brevet-brigadier  general,  Windsor 

Ripley,  Jarnes  W.,  brigadier- general,  Windham. 

Roberts,  Benjamin  S.,  brigadier  general,  New  Haven. 

Rockwell,  Alfred  P.,  brevet  brigadier-general,  Norwich. 

Ross,  Samuel,  brevet-brigadier-general  (Twentieth). 

Sedgwick,  John,  major-general,  Cornwall. 

Seymour,  Truman,  brigadier-general,  Burlington,  Vt. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  293 

Stedman,  Griffin  A.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Hartford. 

Steinwehr,  A.  Von,  brigadier-general,  Wallingford. 

Shaler,  Alexander,  brevet-major-general,  Haddam. 

Terry,  Alfred  H.,  major-general.  New  Haven. 

Tyler,  Daniel,  brigadier-general,  Norwich. 

Terry,  H.  D.,  brigadier-general,  Hartford. 

Totten,  Joseph  G. ,  brevet-major-general,  New  London . 

Tourtellotte,  John  E.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Thompson. 

Tyler,  Robert  O.,  brevet-major-general,  Hartford. 

Wessells,  Henry  W.,  brevet-major-general,  Litchfield. 

Wright,  Horatio  G.,  major-general,  Orange-Clinton. 

Williams,  A.  S.,  brevet-major-general,  Saybrook. 

Whitaker,  Edward  W.,  lieutenant-colonel  and  brevet-brigadier-general,  Ashford. 

Whittlesey,  Henry  M.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  (Retired  from  service  on  the  field 

May,  '62,)  born  in  New  York. 
Ward,  Henry  C.,  brevet-brigadier-general,  Hartford. 

— ["  Connecticut  in  the   War,"  p.  850. 

Another  form  in  which  the  States  cared  for  their  troops 
was  by  the  faithful  and  unremitted  attention  of  the  gover 
nors  to  their  wants  all  through  the  service.  Governor 
Buckingham's  devotion  to  their  welfare  will  furnish  a  good 
illustration  of  what  was  done  by  the  State  executives  all 
over  the  North  for  the  comfort  of  the  army,  which,  supple 
mented  by  the  unstinted  liberality  and  unswerving  patriot 
ism  of  the  people,  did  so  much  more  than  was  ever  done 
before  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  war.  It  has  been 
said  of  him  : — 

He  made  it  a  matter  of  duty  to  visit  every  regiment  organized  in 
the  State,  and  address  to  the  officers  words  of  affectionate  counsel  re 
specting  their  duties,  rights  and  responsibilities.  "  I  remember  their 
substance  well,"  says  an  officer  (Chaplain  J.  H.  Bradford).  "After 
telling  us  what  a  noble  band  of  men  we  had  the  honor  to  command, 
and  of  the  high  motives  which  had  actuated  them  to  leave  their 
homes  for  scenes  so  full  of  hazzard  and  suffering,  he  told  us  that  we 
could  do  much  to  promote  their  usefulness  and  to  relieve  their  priva 
tions.  'Remember,'  said  he,  'that  the  government,  though  sorely 
pressed,  makes  ample  provision  for  its  defenders.  Study  well  the 
regulations;  in  them  you  will  find  your  duties  and  your  privileges 
clearly  defined.  Whatever  the  government  provides,  that  your  men 
are  entitled  to  receive.  See  that  they  are  thus  provided.  If,  through 
the  carelessness  of  officers  on  the  higher  staffs,  such  provision  is  not 
made,  do  not  hesitate  to  make  your  complaints  until  the  grievance  is 
remedied.  If  you  cannot  get  redress  otherwise,  then  write  me  the 


294  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

facts  fully,  and  I  will  apply  to  the  highest  power  in  the  land  for  you." 
Then  after  an  earnest  appeal  to  us  to  seek  divine  guidance  and  pro 
tection,  he  bade  us  farewell.  I  saw,  during  my  connection  with  the 
regiment,  frequent  evidences  that  the  words  of  His  Excellency  were 
warmly  remembered  by  many  of  the  officers.— f"  Connecticut  in  the 
War,"  p.  144. 

That  these  pledges  to  redress  their  wrongs,  and  if  neces 
sary  to  appeal  to  "  the  highest  power  in  the  land  "  to  ac 
complish  it,  were  no  careless  promises  of  the  Governor  to 
his  troops,  will  be  seen  from  his  subsequent  correspondence 
with   the    government  upon    such    subjects.     This   corre 
spondence  shows  at  the  same  time  that  he  appreciated  the 
difficulties  with  which  the  several  departments  of  the  gov 
ernment  had  to  contend,  and  that  he  never  meant  to  be  un 
reasonable  in  his  demands  upon  them.     At  one  time  he 
complains  to  the  War  Department,  of  the  clothing  and  sup 
plies  issued  to  his  troops ;  of  "  shoes  worn  through  in  less 
than  a  week,  and  soldiers  under  the  necessity  of  drawing 
four,  five  and  six  pairs  before  the  year  is  one-half  or  three- 
quarters  gone,"  and  yet  gives  the  department  credit  for  the 
excellence  of  their  system  of  inspection  and  supply,  while 
at  times  such  miserable  failures  happen  in  it.     If  the  issues 
had  always  been  of  the  quality  contemplated,  no  just  com 
plaint  could  be  made,  but  the  many  agencies  employed  in 
securing  the  clothing,  the  haste  with  which  the  supplies 
were  gathered,  and  the  impossibility  of  extending  the  ex 
cellent  system  adopted  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department, 
so  as  to  bring  under  its  just  and  positive  rules,  all  who  are  em 
ployed  in  supplying  the  army,  there  would  have  been  no  occa 
sion  for  such  complaint."    In  another  case,  when  one  of  his 
regiments  had  been  hurried  into  the  fight  of  Antictam,  and 
required  to  leave  all  their  personal  baggage  arid  most  need 
ful  supplies  behind,  the  Governor  sends  on  a  trusted  friend 
to  look  after  them,  and  makes  the  following  communica 
tion  to  the  War  Department:— 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  295 

Connecticut  will  never^bject  to  being  placed  in  any  post  of  danger, 
nor  to  perform  any  duty  which  may  be  demanded  in  this  hour  of 
peril  to  the  country,  but  the  loss  of  health  and  life  occasioned  by  six 
weeks  of  unnecessary  deprivation  of  tents,  clothing  and  blankets, 
which  they  were  ordered  to  leave  in  Washington,  as  they  went  to  the 
battlefield  of  Antietam,  and  which,  if  permission  was  given,  and  the 
ordinary  facilities  granted,  might  be  secured  in  a  few  hours,  will  not 
increase  the  patriotism  of  their  fellow-citizens  at  home,  nor  stimulate 
further  enlistments. — ['*  Executive  Journal." 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Governor,  the  State  also  pro 
vided  for  a  commission  of  physicians,  to  visit  the  field  hos 
pitals  of  the  army  wherever  they  might  be,  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  government,  they  were  authorized  to  send 
home  every  Connecticut  soldier  who  was  found  there,  and 
could  bear  the  journey.  The  Governor  selected  two  well- 
known  and  properly  qualified  medical  practitioners  of  the 
State,  Doctors  William  H.  Coggswell  and  William  M.  White, 
who  sent  home,  or  to  the  hospital  at  New  Haven,  every  such 
soldier  wherever  he  was  found,  greatly  to  the  relief  of  their 
friends,  and  to  the  recovery  of  many  who  were  sure  to 
die  where  they  were.  Digging  in  the  trenches  before 
Yorktown,  or  campaigning  among  the  swamps  of  Louis 
iana,  is  as  fatal  to  life  as  severe  fighting,  and  what 
must  have  been  the  change  to  these  dispirited  and  home 
sick  boys  from  the  North  ?  A  breath  of  Northern  air,  and 
above  all  the  sunshine  of  home,  breathed  hope  and  health 
and  life  into  many  a  noble  soul  who  still  lives  to  love  his 
friends,  and  serve  his  country. 

One  other  arrangement  was  made  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Connecticut  troops,  and  especially  for  their  families  at 
home,  which,  though  it  implied  an  immense  quantity  of  de 
tailed  work,  was  of  great  value.  Arrangements  were  made 
by  which  the  soldiers,  whenever  they  were  paid  off,  could  send 
any  part  of  their  pay,  whether  large  or  small,  to  their 
friends,  so  that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  man  to  retain  no 
more  than  six  dollars  of  his  monthly  pay,  and  forward  the 


296  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

rest  to  his  family.  We  are  told  that  after  a  pay  day,  some 
times  $25,000  would  be  sent  to  soldiers'  families.  We  re 
member  after  the  war  was  over,  at  some  soldiers'  gathering, 
the  Governor,  upon  being  complimented  upon  the  success  of 
his  administration,  replied  that  whatever  success  he  had  was 
due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  faithful  aid  rendered  him  by 
the  several  members  of  his  staff,  and,  referring  to  each  of 
them  in  turn,  he  spoke  of  Paymaster  General  Fitch  of  New 
Haven,  who  had  the  above  matter  in  charge,  and  worked  it 
out  with  complete  success,  as  having  received  and  remitted, 
in  this  and  the  various  services  of  his  office,  so  many  "  mil 
lions  without  error  or  loss," — a  brief  testimonial  to  both 
the  ability  and  fidelity  of  such  an  officer,  and  certainly  as 
high  a  one  as  could  have  been  desired. 

The  Governor  was  also  accustomed,  like  other  governors 
who  were  near  enough  to  a  battlefield  to  render  such  service, 
to  send  forward  surgeons  for  temporary  service  whenever 
they  were  needed.  Thus  he  writes  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
early  in  the  Peninsular  campaign :  "  If  during  the  siege  or 
anticipated  battle  of  Yorktown,  or  at  any  other  point,  the 
army  should  require  additional  surgical  aid,!  will  be  pleased 
to  send  forward  good,  experienced  surgeons  for  temporary 
service,  on  receiving  notice  by  telegraph."  He  not  only 
sent  surgeons,  but  agents  of  selected  ability  and  trust 
worthiness,  with  such  instructions  as  these :  "  You  will 
find  many  privations  incident  to  the  camp  and  a  state  of 
war,  which  cannot  be  relieved.  But  when  you  discover 
grievances  that  can  be  redressed,  you  will  give  your  efforts 
to  accomplish  that  object,  through  proper  officials  and 
benevolent  associations  which  are  organized  for  that  pur 
pose."  With  such  authority  and  with  such  assistance  at 
hand,  we  can  readily  understand  what  relief  would  be 
furnished  to  the  sick,  the  wounded  and  the  dying,  even  in 
the  confusion  and  carnage  of  a  battle,  and  how  many  could 
be  relieved  from  suffering  and  from  impending  death. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  297 

With  the  resources  of  the  "  Sanitary  Commission  "  at  com 
mand,  and  also  those  of  the  "  Christian  Commission,"  with 
the  chaplains,  and  nurses,  and  surgeons,  and  comforts  which 
each  furnished  to  both  body  and  soul,  and  the  hearts  of 
friends,  and  which  kept  step  with  the  march  of  our  armies 
almost  wherever  they  went,  (for  they  were  recognized  by 
the  government  as  virtually  a  part  of  our  armies,  and  had 
protection  and  free  transportation,  and  all  the  facilities  that 
could  be  given  them  in  their  humane  and  Christian  mission,) 
the  world  never  before  saw  two  such  great,  well-appointed 
and  efficient  organizations,  working  together  so  enthusi 
astically  as  these,  and  in  such  harmony  with  the  order  of 
the  army.  In  the  "  Crimean  war  "  such  outside  work,  jven 
for  such  a  purpose,  was  not  looked  upon  with  favor,  under 
the  apprehension  that  it  might  interfere  with  the  discipline 
and  efficiency  of  the  armies ;  and  our  government  at  first 
labored  under  the  same  apprehension.  But  the  hearts  of 
the  people  demanded  it,  and  freed  the  government  from  the 
expense  of  it,  and  poured  out  from  their  wealth  and  their 
poverty  to  sustain  it,  and  sent  their  noblest  men  and  most 
refined  and  cultured  women  to  carry  it  on. 

"  The  Sanitary  Commission  soon  had  an  independent  trans 
portation  of  its  own.  It  had  hospital  transports,  wagons, 
ambulances,  railway  ambulances  and  cars.  Ingenious  men 
devised  for  it  inventions  of  better  litters,  better  stretchers, 
better  ambulances.  It  secured  comfortable  transportation 
for  the  wounded  soldier  from  the  battlefield  to  the  hospital. 
On  the  railroad  it  soon  had  its  hospital  cars,  with  kitchen, 
dispensary,  and  a  surgeon's  car  in  the  midst."  It  had  its 
department  of  sanitary  inspection  and  a  corps  of  medical 
inspectors,  who  thoroughly  examined  troops  in  the  field, 
and  reported  their  condition  and  needs  to  their  officers  and 
to  the  government,  and  others  who  visited  the  three  hundred 
general  hospitals  of  the  army  and  made  confidential  reports 
to  the  Surgeon  General.  They  established  in  the  large 


298  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

towns  depots  for  the  supplies  furnished,  each  of  which  had 
its  hundred  or  a  thousand  associations  engaged  in  collecting 
such  supplies.  One  of  them,  the  Women's  Central  Associ 
ation,  collected  stores  to  the  value  of  over  a  million  dollars ; 
another,  the  Northwestern,  at  Chicago,  furnished  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  million.  There  was  also  a  department  of 
special  relief,  which  took  under  its  charge  soldiers  not  yet 
under  or  just  out  of  the  care  of  the  government,  men  on 
sick  leave  or  found  in  the  streets  or  left  by  their  regiments. 
For  such  it  furnished  "  homes."  It  also  had  "  homes  for 
wives,  mothers  and  children  of  soldiers,"  where  those  visit 
ing  the  sick  and  wounded  might  find  protection,  defense, 
food,  and  shelter.  It  had  its  "  feeding  stations,"  its  "  sani 
tary  steamers "  on  the  chief  rivers ;  and  its  established 
"  agencies  "  to  see  that  no  injustice  was  done  to  any  soldier  ; 
where  his  widow  or  his  orphans  could  obtain  pensions,  back 
pay,  bounties,  or  whatever  money  was  due ;  where  any 
error  in  his  papers  could  be  corrected,  and  especially  where 
no  sharper  could  take  advantage  of  him.  It  instituted 
Hospital  Directories  also,  where  the  friends  of  a  soldier  could 
obtain  information  without  cost  as  to  his  place  and  con 
dition,  if  within  a  year  he  had  been  the  inmate  of  any 
hospital,  and  where  there  could  be  found  a  record  of  not 
less  than  900,000  names.  Its  Field  Relief  stood  ready  to 
minister  to  the  wounded  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  give 
assistance  to  the  surgeons,  and  supply  deficiencies  in  the 
field  hospitals,  while  its  Relief  Corps  "  waited  on  the  sick 
and  wounded,  wrote  letters  for  them,  gave  them  stationery, 
postage  stamps,  newspapers,  and  helped  them  while  away 
the  heavy  hours  of  suffering  by  reading  magazines  and 
books  to  them." 

The   Christian    Commission    was   only   another   similar 
organization. 

It  aided  the  surgeon,  helped  the  chaplain,  followed  the  armies  in 
their  marches,  went  into  the  trenches,  and  along   the  picket  line. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  299 

Wherever  there  was  a  sick,  a  wounded,  a  dying  man,  an  agent  of  the 
Christian  Commission  was  near  by.  It  gave  Christian  burial  wherever 
possible,  and  marked  the  graves  of  the  dead.  It  had  its  religious 
services,  its  little  extemporized  chapels,  its  prayer  meetings.  The 
American  Bible  Society  gave  it  Bibles  and  Testaments,  the  Tract 
Society  its  publications.  The  government  furnished  its  agents  and 
supplies  free  transportation,  it  had  the  use  of  its  telegraph  for  its 
purposes,  steamboat  and  railroad  companies  furthered  its  objects 
with  all  their  ability.  It  distributed  nearly  $5,000,000  in  money  and 
supplies.— [Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p,  515. 

The  sources  of  such  supplies  were  the  personal  gifts, 
great  and  small,  of  all  classes,  and  the  "  Soldiers'  Aid 
Societies  "  all  over  the  land  kept  their  treasuries  full  and 
enabled  them,  with  the  favor  of  military  officers  and  the 
facilities  furnished  by  the  government,  to  befriend  so  many, 
and  befriend  them  when  their  hold  on  life  was  the  weakest, 
their  hearts  most  discouraged,  and  their  friends  most  dis 
tressed.  "  What  country  ?"  it  might  well  be  asked,  "  what 
age  of  the  world  can  show  such  a  splendid  example  of 
4  organized  mercy  ? ' ' 

Dr.  Draper,  in  his  "  History  of  Our  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill, 
page  515,  from  which  we  have  quoted  so  freely,  has 
given  a  just  and  striking  representation  of  the  work  done 
by  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  under  the  presi 
dency  of  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bellows  of  New  York,  and  also 
of  the  United  States  "  Christian  Commission,"  at  the  head 
of  which  was  that  philanthropist,  George  II.  Stuart  of  Phila 
delphia,  who  twice  declined  a  seat  in  President  Grant's 
Cabinet,  but  consented  to  serve  on  the  first  board  of  Indian 
Commissioners.  The  nature  of  the  work  of  each  is  given, 
and,  somewhat,  the  combined  results  of  both.  But  the 
countless  "  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies  "  spread  all  over  the  North, 
doing  a  similar  work,  or  auxiliary  to  these  already  men 
tioned  ;  the  "  Soldiers'  Rests "  established  on  every  great 
thoroughfare  where  departing  and  returning  troops  were 
needing  refreshment,  if  not  temporary  care  and  nursing; 


300  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  "  State  agents  "  stationed  at  such  important  points  as 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  on  purpose  to  look  after  the 
welfare  of  every  soldier  of  the  State,  as  Governor  Buck 
ingham  kept  Colonel  Almy  at  New  York  all  through  the 
war,  where  200,000  soldiers  of  Connecticut  and  other 
States,  and  60,000  sick  and  wounded,  received  such  atten 
tion  as  they  were  passing  to  and  from  the  war ;  these  all 
show  how  numerous  and  complete  these  organizations  were, 
and  what  Christian  humanity  there  was  in  so  many  hearts 
while  this  death  struggle  was  going  on  to  save  the  Union. 

We  remember  accompanying  Governor  Buckingham  on 
a  visit  across  the  Potomac,  to  see  his  superb  regiment  of 
heavy  artillery  just  organized.  It  had  been  recruited  up  to 
1,800  men,  and  they  were  as  well  drilled  in  the  use  of  the 
musket  as  in  the  management  of  their  heavy  cannon,  and 
when  we  saw  them  reviewed  by  the  Governor,  there  must 
have  been  1,400  or  1,500  in  line — as  fine  young  fellows  in 
manners  and  morals,  and  as  faultless  in  equipments  and 
drill,  as  new  recruits  could  well  be.  It  was  largely  a  Hart 
ford  county  regiment,  and  many  of  their  officers,  like  their 
commander,  Colonel  Tyler,  natives  of  Hartford.  General 
McClellan  was  just  setting  out  on  his  Peninsular  campaign, 
and  the  first  troops  sent  down  the  Potomac  were  being 
embarked  that  very  day.  At  dinner,  one  of  the  young 
officers  said  to  his  commander :  "  Colonel,  our  boys  are 
feeling  badly  that  other  regiments  should  be  sent  off  on  this 
expedition  while  we  must  be  kept  here  guarding  this  old 
fort."  And  we  remember  with  peculiar  satisfaction  the 
Colonel's  answer,  who,  though  a  young  man  himself,  showed 
his  reflection  and  a  proper  comprehension  of  their  chief 
duty :  "  Nonsense ;  our  first  duty  is  to  have  a  good  regi 
ment,  and  if  we  have  one  we  shall  be  wanted."  The 
papers  soon  announced  that  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy 
Artillery  were  to  join  McClellan's  army,  taking  with  them 
as  they  did  a  heavier  siege  train  than  was  used  by  either 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  801 

the  French  or  the  English  against  Sebastopol,  and,  indeed, 
"  exceeding  in  weight  by  fifty  per  cent,  any  guns  that  had 
ever  before  been  placed  in  siege  batteries."  Some  of  them 
weighed  sixteen  or  seventeen  thousand  pounds,  and  in  a 
train  of  seventy-two  pieces,  the  greatest  wonder  is  that 
every  piece,  save  one,  should  have  been  safely  transported 
through  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy  and  used  success 
fully  to  save  our  army  from  threatening  annihilation  in  its 
last  battle  at  Malvern  Hill. 

It  was  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  that  regiment,  and 
confer  with  its  commander  about  the  proposed  expedition, 
that  Governor  Buckingham  visited  them,  and  to  do  what 
ever  else  was  necessary  to  secure  their  highest  efficiency. 
He  loved  to  visit  his  troops,  and  he  could  hardly  see  them 
without  finding  something  more  to  be  done  for  their  com 
fort,  if  not  for  their  efficiency.  Thus,  upon  leaving  one  of 
their  camps,  he  asked:  "Well,  boys,  is  there  anything 
else  1  can  do  for  you  ? "  u  If  you  can  hurry  up  the  pay 
master  we  shall  be  obliged  to  you,  for  it  is  a  long  time  since 
we  have  seen  him,"  was  the  answer.  "  Certainly,  I'll  see 
what  I  can  do  about  it,"  were  his  parting  words,  and  they 
found  that  before  he  left  he  had  drawn  his  personal  check 
for  the  amount  due  them.  As  to  providing  transportation 
for  those  who  would  seek  their  sick  or  wounded  friends  in 
the  field,  or  bring  home  their  dead,  or  furnish  those  in 
prison  with  some  comforts,  or  only  give  the  boys  in  camp 
some  pleasant  remembrances  of  home  lite  and  the  Thanks 
giving  delicacies  they  used  to  enjoy  there,  in  all  such  work 
the  Governor  took  the  liveliest  interest,  and  spared  neither 
trouble  nor  expense  to  aid  in  it.* 


*  As  an  illustration  of  it  in  the  last  particular  :  "  On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1864,  with 
final  victory  close  at  hand,  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  sent  to  the  sol 
diers  in  the  field  a  dinner,  consisting  among  other  things  of  600  tons  of  turkeys,  in 
number  about  200,000,  and  Connecticut  furnished  her  full  share  of  these.  For  one 
day  at  least,  in  camp  and  field  and  hospital,  the  quiet  bird  which  plain  Ben  Frank 
lin  wished  to  see  inscribed  upon  our  armorial  field,  stood  forth  supreme,  and  effeo 
tually  superseded  the  proud  *  bird  of  freedom.1  "— ["  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  p  17'J. 


302  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Finally,  Governor  Buckingham  was  accustomed  to  show 
honor  to  Connecticut's  fallen  heroes,  and  as  sincerely  to 
the  humblest  of  them  as  to  the  highest.  We  are  sure  that 
he  could  not  have  attended  the  burial  of  one  of  his  com 
manders,  with  more  respect  or  tender  sympathy  with  the 
relatives,  than  when  he  dropped  in  upon  the  funeral  of  some 
faithful  private,  and  spoke  with  the  neighbors  and  the  widow 
and  orphaned  children.  "  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  Con 
necticut  furnished  the  first  four  martyrs  of  the  war  of  the 
rank  of  general,  colonel,  major,  and  captain — Lyon,  Ells 
worth,  Winthrop  and  Ward — the  first  four  men  also  whose 
heroic  deaths  gave  a  marked  impulse  and  momentum  to 
the  war  spirit  of  the  North." 

When  the  war  broke  out,  General  Nathaniel  Lyon,  then 
a  captain  in  the  regular  army,  was  in  charge  of  the  arsenal 
at  St.  Louis.  Secession  was  sweeping  over  the  State,  and 
"  St.  Louis  became  a  furnace  of  rage  and  riotous  tumult." 
A  Secession  mob  had  gathered  about  the  arsenal  to  strip  it 
of  its  arms  and  ammunition,  when  he  decoyed  them  away, 
loaded  all  that  was  valuable  upon  a  steamer  by  night  and 
transported  it  to  Illinois.  A  rebel  camp  was  organized 
under  the  rebel  governor,  just  outside  the  city  and  several 
thousand  half-armed  and  raw  troops  were  gathered  there 
under  a  Confederate  general,  to  seize  the  arsenal.  General 
Lyon  anticipated  their  attack.  He  surrounded  their  camp 
so  suddenly,  and  attacked  them  with  such  vigor,  that  he 
captured  them  all  in  thirty  minutes.  Then  came  the  in 
vasion  of  the  State  by  the  Confederate  troops  from  Arkan 
sas,  when  he  recruited  a  volunteer  force,  which,  though 
quite  inferior  to  the  enemy,  he  led  across  the  State  with 
such  rapidity,  and  used  with  such  courage  and  skill,  that  he 
soon  placed  himself  in  command  of  the  entire  State,  except 
the  southwest  corner.  From  that  quarter  danger  was  always 
threatening.  When,  some  two  months  after,  the  Confederate 
generals,  Price  and  McCullock,  had  united  their  forces  in 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  308 

the  neighborhood  of  Springfield,  he  huiTied  thither  to  en 
counter  them.  He  knew  their  force  was  quadruple  his  own, 
but  considering  a  retreat  more  hazardous  than  a  battle,  he 
attacked  them  in  camp  at  daybreak,  on  Wilson's  creek. 
It  was  a  bloody  battle.  "Of  the  5,000  national  troops, 
1,300  were  killed,  wounded,  or  taken  prisoners,  while  of  the 
Confederates,  who  were  10,000  strong,  1,200  were  killed  or 
wounded."  The  national  forces  fell  back  on  Springfield 
and  Rolla,  where  they  were  not  pursued.  General  Lyon's 
movement,  though  it  resulted  in  defeat,  enabled  the  Union 
men  in  Missouri  to  organize  a  government,  and  array  the 
power  of  the  State  on  the  national  side.  In  that  battle 
General  Lyon  fell.  Bringing  all  his  men  to  the  front  for  a 
final  effort,  his  horse  was  killed,  and  he  was  wounded  in 
the  head  and  leg,  but  mounting  another  horse,  he  dashed  to 
the  front  to  rally  his  wavering  line,  and  was  shot  through 
the  breast.  "  In  the  confusion  of  the  retreat,  his  remains 
were  left  behind.  Mrs.  Phelps,  wife  of  Colonel  John  S. 
Phelps,  member  of  Congress  for  the  district,  a  Unionist. 
caused  the  body  to  be  incased  in  a  coffin  hermetically  sealed, 
and  then  concealed  it  under  some  straw  in  an  old  cellar. 
Fearing  it  would  be  disturbed  by  the  rebel  soldiers,  she  had 
it  taken  out  and  buried  in  the  night,  and  delivered  to  his 
friends  when  they  arrived.  These  remains  were  brought 
to  Connecticut  to  be  interred  in  his  native  town,  and  all  the 
way  thither  they  were  met  by  tearful  multitudes  strewing 
the  choicest  flowers  on  the  brave  man's  coffin.  At  St.  Louis, 
Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Hartford,  the  body 
lay  in  state."  At  Eastford,  his  home,  it  was  estimated  that 
his  funeral  was  attended  by  10,000  people.  The  services 
were  held  in  the  Congregational  church,  ex- Governor  Cleve 
land  presiding.  Judge  Carpenter  delivered  an  historical 
address,  and  Hon.  Galusha  A.  Grow  of  Pennsylvania,  (both 
natives  of  Eastford,)  an  oration.  Remarks  were  also  made 
by  Governor  Buckingham,  Governor  Sprague,  Senator  Pos- 


304  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ter,  Major  General  Casey,  Major  Deming  of  Hartford,  and 
others,  and  his  remains  were  reverently  committed  to  the 
earth,  with  military  honors.  General  Lyon  bequeathed  $30,- 
000,  almost  his  entire  property,  to  the  government,  to  aid 
in  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  to  the  State  his  sword. 
Another  of  the  fallen  heroes  of  Connecticut  was  thus 
honored  by  the  Governor.  It  was  Major  General  Sedgwick 
of  the  regular  army,  of  an  old  and  illustrious  family,  which 
had  marched  under  the  banner  of  Oliver  Cromwell  and 
acquired  distinction  there,  and  also  in  our  Revolutionary 
war,  where  his  father  was  a  major  and  one  of  the  officers 
grouped  about  Washington  at  Valley  Forge.  He  was 
graduated  at  West  Point,  the  second  in  his  class,  and 
among  his  classmates  were  General  Joseph  Hooker  and 
the  Confederate  Generals  Braxton  Bragg  and  Jubal  A. 
Early.  He  distinguished  himself  in  the  Mexican  war,  had 
an  important  part  in  the  Peninsular  campaign,  and  was  in 
command  of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps  which  carried  Mary's 
Heights  so  magnificently  in  the  Chancellorsville  campaign, 
and  reached  the  field  of  Gettysburg  on  the  second  day  of 
the  battle,  after  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  forced  marches 
on  record,  and  contributed  to  the  result  by  his  steady 
courage  and  the  confidence  which  his  presence  among 
troops  always  inspired.  He  was  twice  wounded  in  leading  a 
charge  at  Antietam,  and  while  placing  his  artillery  in  posi 
tion  at  Spottsylvania  courthouse  was  shot  in  the  head  by 
a  sharpshooter,  and  instantly  killed.  "  As  a  soldier,  he  was 
a  man  of  few  words,  but  of  great  deeds.  Quiet,  unobtru 
sive,  unambitious,  he  excited  little  envy,  while  all  were 
ready  to  do  homage  to  his  virtues  and  his  genius.  Twice  he 
was  offered  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
twice  he  refused  it."  With  such  a  nature,  and  a  peculiar 
affection  for  his  friends,  and  home,  and  ancestral  acres,  we 
are  not  surprised  to  hear  him  say,  as  he  surveys  the 
landscape:  "Is  there  another  spot  on  earth  so  beautiful 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  306 

as  Cornwall  Hollow  !  "  Thither  he  was  tenderly  borne, 
escorted  by  Governor  Buckingham,  the  State  delegation  in 
Congress,  and  many  others,  there  to  meet  thousands  from 
the  surrounding  towns.  The  Legislature  proposed  a  public 
funeral,  but  this  not  being  in  accord  with  the  character  of 
the  man  or  the  feelings  of  his  friends,  an  appropriate 
sermon  was  preached  in  the  village  church  by  the  pastor. 
His  body  was  enshrouded  in  the  American  flag.  t;  No 
military  salute  was  fired  above  his  grave,  but  as  the  body 
was  lowered  to  its  last  resting  place,  a  peal  of  thunder,  like 
the  roar  of  distant  artillery,  reverberated  along  the  heavens, 
sounding  the  requiem.  'And  the  tired  soldier  rested." 

Governor  Buckingham's  appreciation  of  whatever  was 
noble  and  faithful  to  duty  in  any  soldier  of  any  rank,  and 
his  personal  sympathy  with  him  and  his  friends  in  both  his 
successes  and  in  his  defeats,  is  noticeable  in  the  reception 
he  gave  to  his  returning  regiment.  Aware  of  the  danger 
to  which  ho  was  sending  them,  and  knowing  that  it  must 
be  a  deadly  strife,  with  the  anxiety  of  a  parent  for  his  own 
sons,  he  gave  them  his  best  counsel,  resolved  to  sustain 
them  by  all  that  his  official  position  could  do  for  them,  sent 
them  special  relief  when  they  needed  it,  secured  their  pro 
motion  as  they  deserved  it,  pitied  their  premature  fall,  and 
comforted  their  friends  in  having  given  them  up  to  so 
necessary  and  noble  a  duty.  Of  this,  his  reception  of 
two  of  his  regiments  at  Hartford,  after  their  term  of  enlist 
ment  had  expired  and  they  had  re- enlisted  for  the  war,  will 
furnish  an  illustration.  He  had  commissioned  their  officers 
and  given  them  his  counsel,  and  put  their  flags  into  their 
hands,  and  sent  them  off  with  his  benediction  and  the 
prayers  of  neighbors  and  kindred.  And  as  they  come 
home  with  diminished  ranks,  and  the  laurel  is  put  upon  so 
many  heads,  and  they  meet  so  many  wearing  mourning  for 
those  who  went  out  with  them  and  have  not  returned,  the 
Governor  voices  the  feelings  of  the  crowd  in  both  their  joy 


306  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  grief.  The  Hartford  Press  thus  speaks  of  one  of  these 
receptions  :  "  The  veterans  were  greeted  all  along  the  line 
of  march  by  crowds  of  people  with  cheers,  hurrahs,  and  wav 
ing  handkerchiefs.  When  the  line  arrived  in  front  of  the 
State  House  it  halted,  and  the  veterans  were  received  by  the 
Governor,  State  officers  and  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature. 
Governor  Buckingham  made  a  brief,  but  most  eloquent  and 
cordial  address  of  welcome.  He  said  in  substance  :— 

"  General    Harland,  officers  and  men  of    the   Eighth    and   Eleventh 

Regiment : 

"  In  behalf  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of  Connecticut,  I  greet 
you  with  a  hearty  welcome.  Not  as  prodigals  returning  home,  but 
as  having  performed  a  most  honorable  and  hazardous  duty. 

"  When  the  rebel  States  insulted  our  nation's  flag,  turned  their  gun* 
upon  the  nation's  forts,  and  attacked  the  government,  you  stepped 
out  bravely  to  protect  them.  I  have  watched  you  with  friendly 
interest  through  all  your  honorable  career.  I  remember  when  you 
went  out  with  the  gallant  Burnside,  encountered  perils  at  Hatteras, 
and  won  a  victory  at  Roanoke.  I  remember  you  at  Newbern,  at  Fort 
Macon  and  at  South  Mountain. 

4 'And  God  grant  that  we  shall  never  forget  that  fatal  struggle  at 
Antietam,  where  your  first  colonel,  the  noble  Kingsbury,  fell;  where 
the  intrepid  Griswold  led  his  company  across  that  bloody  stream,  and 
gave  up  his  life  gladly ;  where  Lieutenant  Wait  would  not  go  back 
when  wounded,  but  cheered  on  his  men  till  a  fatal  bullet  laid  him 
low  in  death.  There  sixty-nine  of  your  number  learned  *  how  sweet 
it  is  to  die  for  one's  country.' 

"We  owe  you  a  debt  of  gratitude  we  can  never  repay.  We  would 
have  your  names  inscribed  on  the  granite  and  marble.  They  will  be 
written  in  the  history  of  your  country.  Your  banners  came  back 
tattered  and  torn,  but  covered  with  honor  and  inscribed  with  such 
glorious  names  as  Roanoke  and  Antietam,  where  you  fought  in 
defense  of  the  principles  of  liberty. 

"  Your  re-enlisttncut  is  a  pledge  that  you  first  enlisted  from  motives 
of  patriotism,  and  that  you,  too,  stand  ready  to  give  your  lives,  if 
need  be,  in  defense  of  your  country.  So  long  as  our  hearts  continue 
to  beat,  they  shall  beat  in  gratitude  to  the  members  of  the  Eighth 
and  Eleventh  Regiments." 

In  this  spirit,  and  with  .such  uncalculating  devotion  to 
the  safety  of  the  Republic,  did  Connecticut  and  her  Gov 
ernor  gird  themselves  anew  for  the  most  critical  and  san 
guinary  part  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 
THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  THANKSGIVING. 

It  was  Brightened  by  i\ews  from  Chattanooga — Relative  Condition 
of  the  Northern  and  Southern  Armies  at  this  Time — President 
Lincoln  at  the  Gettysburg  Cemetery — Popular  Feeling — The 
Battle  Hymn  of  the  Reformation. 

After  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
which  took  place  in  July  of  1863,  no  very  important  mili 
tary  movements  were  made  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
or  by  General  Lee's  army,  until  the  spring  Of  1864.  Both 
these  armies  by  their  brave  fighting  on  the  Peninsula,  at 
Antietam  and  at  Gettysburg,  had  been  sadly  depleted  and 
must  be  recruited  and  reorganized.  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  not  yet  found  its  commander,  nor  the  several 
Union  armies  their  commander-iii-chief.  The  term  of 
enlistment  of  the  nine-months'  men  and  of  those  who 
had  re-enlisted  for  two  years  had  expired,  and  with  the 
reduction  of  the  army  by  such  severe  campaigns,  and  such 
a  sacrifice  of  all  the  material  of  war,  nothing  could  be  done 
so  important  for  the  next  nine  months  as  to  stimulate 
enlistments,  enforce  drafts  where  necessary,  organize  and 
drill  troops,  manufacture  arms  and  clothing,  and  collect  all 
the  varied  supplies  for  the  armies  in  the  field.  Hence  the 
President's  large  and  repeated  calls  for  volunteers,  and  the 
encouragement  of  the  Northern  governors  to  make  them 
large  and  frequent  enough  to  finish  the  war.  Then  became 
apparent  the  comparative  resources  of  the  two  sections  of 
the  country.  The  South  had  been  preparing  and  husband 
ing  her  resources  for  this  very  conflict,  and  at  the  first  was 


308  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

stronger  in  the  field  than  we  were.  Her  rigid  conscription 
brought  every  man  capable  of  military  service  into  the 
army,  and  they  were  kept  there  till  the  war  was  ended. 
But  when  she  had  lost  her  20,000  in  the  Peninsular  cam 
paign,  and  30,000  at  Gettysburg,  and  twice  the  whole 
number  at  Vicksburg,  though  we  had  lost  perhaps  as  many, 
how  was  she  to  replace  that  loss  as  we  could  ?  Besides 
this,  blockade  running  had  been  so  checked  that  she 
could  neither  import  arms  or  supplies  freely,  nor  export 
cotton  to  be  the  basis  of  her  credit  abroad.  Gold  was 
worth  1.100  per  cent,  premium  in  the  Confederate  capital. 

General  Lee,  as  well  as  General  Grant,  has  been  criti 
cised  for  his  wasteful  expenditure  of  men  in  the  war.  It 
seems  awful  in  either  case,  to  talk  deliberately  about  the 
expenditure  of  so  many  human  lives  to  win  .a  battle.  And 
the  only  justification  can  be  that  some  things,  like  human 
liberty,  and  good  government,  and  true  religion,  are  worth 
even  more  than  life  itself,  and  may  be  exchanged  the  one  for 
the  other.  And  even  the  severities  of  war  are  somewhat 
palliated  by  the  sharpness  that  makes  it  shorter.  It  is, 
however,  rather  on  the  ground  of  lack  of  wisdom  than  of 
inhumanity  that  General  Lee  is  censured.  That  he  should 
have  been  so  prodigal  of  his  brave  and  well-disciplined 
troops  as  to  require  two  of  his  commanders,  Hill  and 
Magruder,  to  sacrifice  5,000  of  their  u effective  men"  in 
crossing  the  Chickahominy ,  and  of  Longstreet  6,000  more 
at  Malvern  Hill,  accomplishing  nothing  as  their  commander 
says,  and  insisting  upon  Pickett's  "  last  charge"  at  Gettys 
burg,  when  "  more  than  2,000  were  killed  and  wounded  to 
no  effect  in  scarcely  thirty  minutes,"  as  the  corps  com 
mander  admits,*  when  it  might  have  been  known  as  well 
then  as  afterwards  that  the  Confederacy  never  could  replace 


*  (See  "  War  Book,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  345-7).  Confederate  Central  Longstreet's  article : 
"It  was  thus  I  felt  when  Pickett,1'  etc.,  345.  "More  than  2,000  in  about  thirty 
minutes,"  347.  "  I  do  not  think  there  was  any  necessity  for  giving  battle  at  Gettys 
burg,"  etc.,  850.  '•  I  felt  our  last  hope  was  gone,"  351. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  309 

that  splendid  army,  does  seem  to  imply  that  he  under 
valued  the  military  qualities  of  his  opponents,  or  sadly 
overestimated  his  own. 

With  General  Grant  it  was  different.  His  losses  could 
be  replaced.  The  resources  and  spirit  of  the  North  had 
only  begun  to  be  drawn  upon,  and  when  the  spirit  behind 
these  resources  was  thoroughly  roused,  as  it  was  by  the 
invasion  of  the  free  States,  he  might  well  expect  that  new 
armies  would  be  furnished  if  the  old  ones  were  swept  away, 
and  that  the  vast  stores  of  warlike  material  so  carefully 
collected,  and  so  quickly  destroyed,  would  all  be  supplied 
again.  With  him  the  war  had  come  to  be  essentially  a 
question  of  endurance  and  exhaustion,  and  the  result  vindi 
cated  his  judgment.  Notwithstanding  the  prodigious  losses 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  during  the  first  two  years  of 
the  war,  and  the  25,000  more  needlessly  thrown  away  at 
Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville,  and  the  little  accom 
plished  toward  ending  the  war,  except  weakening  the 
enemy  to  an  equal  extent,  when  Vicksburg  fell  and  Gettys 
burg  was  fought,  the  Confederacy  ought  to  have  read  its 
doom  and  arranged  for  the  best  terms  of  adjustment,  before 
Sherman  had  made  his  devastating  march  through  the 
South,  and  Grant  had  decimated  its  army  in  the  Wilderness 
and  accepted  the  surrender  of  the  remnant  of  it  on  the 
sacred  soil  of  Virginia.  As  the  Count  of  Paris  has  justly 
said,  in  his  account  of  that  battle,  General  Lee,  as  a 
soldier,  at  the  close  of  that  third  day's  fight  at  Gettysburg, 
"  must  have  foreseen  Appomattox." 

In  the  meantime  General  Grant  was  clearing  the  Missis 
sippi  valley,  opening  the  river  to  navigation,  and  doing  some 
of  his  most  vigorous  campaigning,  before  he  was  called 
East  to  be  put  in  command  of  all  our  armies,  and  take 
charge  of  the  Potomac  army  in  particular.  It  was  hard 
and  expensive  work,  particularly  costly  in  men,  and  all 
the  material  and  facilities  of  war.  The  destruction  and 


310 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


rebuilding  of  railroads,  which  had  come  to  play  such  an  im 
portant  part  in  campaigning,  especially  in  a  country  so  vast 
as  this,  was  an  item  of  almost  the  first  consideration.  Here 
was  the  Ohio  and  Mobile  railroad,  running  hundreds  of 
miles  from  Ohio  to  Mobile  Bay,  Ala.,  upon  which  both  armies 
were  almost  equally  dependent,  and  which  it  was  the  con 
stant  struggle  of  each  to  hold  and  keep  in  repair,  or  to 
destroy  if  they  could  not  hold  it,  and  to  recover  it  again 
and  then  rebuild  it.  As  showing  this  kind  of  work,  take 
Sherman's  Meridian  expedition,  undertaken  about  this  time 
(February,  1864).  His  force  was  not  large,  and  his  loss 
small,  yet  he  marched  400  miles  during  the  shortest  month 
of  the  year,  and  destroyed,  we  are  told,  "  150  miles  of  rail 
road,  67  bridges,  700  trestles,  20  locomotives,  28  cars, 
several  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  several  steam  mills,  and 
over  two  million  bushels  of  corn."  At  Meridian,  it  is  said, 
that  "for  five  days  10,000  men  worked  hard  with  axes, 
sledges,  crowbars,  drawbars,  and  fire,  and  the  town  with  its 
depots,  storehouses,  arsenals,  offices,  hospitals  and  canton 
ments  was  totally  destroyed.  Nothing  was  spared  except 
the  inhabited  houses."  One  of  his  commanders  reported 
"  the  destruction  of  sixty  miles  of  railroad  ties,  and  iron 
burnt  and  bent,  and  fifty  miles  of  road  thus  ruined,"  be 
sides  bridges,  locomotives  and  cars.  As  the  object  of  the 
expedition  was  to  destroy  the  resources  of  the  enemy  for 
the  continuance  of  the  war,  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  awful  as  it 
makes  war  in  such  a  form,  it  was  fast  accomplishing  its 
purpose.  These  were  resources  without  which  no  army 
could  be  transported  over  such  great  States,  or  maintained 
in  the  field.  And  when  these  were  seriously  impaired,  the 
war  was  coming  to  an  end.  The  same  was  true  of  the  ma 
terial  for  an  army.  The  Confederacy  was  fast  using  up  its 
men  who  were  fit  for  military  duty,  however  rigid  its  con 
scription  might  be.  Here  is  where  the  North  always  had  an 
immense  advantage  over  the  South. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  311 

The  populous  and  resolute  Northwest  poured  her  troops 
into  the  Mississippi  valley  as  fast  as  her  armies  there  were 
depleted,  while  New  England  and  the  Northern  States 
recruited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  faster  than  the  battles 
of  the  Wilderness  and  the  siege  of  Petersburg  could  reduce 
it.  If  the  Confederacy  could  have  done  this,  they  never 
would  have  let  Chattanooga  fall  or  Sherman  reach  Atlanta 
and  Savannah,  much  less  march  from  there  almost  unop 
posed  to  the  sea.  That  was  their  weak  point  from  the 
beginning,  lack  of  men  for  their  armies.  Some  of  the 
Southern  States,  also,  like  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee, 
felt  it  to  have  been  a  sad  mistake  to  follow  the  lead  of 
South  Carolina  and  secede  from  the  Union.*  They  suffered 
heavily  in  the  capture  of  their  blockade  runners,  whose 
cargoes  of  gold,  arms  and  army  supplies  went  into  our 
treasury,  while  the  swift  vessels  which  had  carried  them  were 
put  into  our  service,!  and  by  the  time  the  war  was  half 

*  As  showing  the  Union  sentiment  of  those  States  and  disaffection  toward  the 
Confederation,  such  items  as  these  were  a  part  of  the  news  of  the  day:  August 
5, 1863—"  Large  numbers  of  refugees  from  East  Tennessee  arrived  at  Lexington,  Ky. 
A  body  of  300  of  them  had  a  fight  in  Powell's  valley,  near  the  Cumberland  moun 
tains,  with  400  rebel  cavalry  and  defeated  them,  after  having  lost  sixty-five  of  their 
number  taken  prisoners."  October  26.  1863— '•  A  party  of  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  refugees,  about  500  strong,  making  their  way  to  East  Tennessee,  was 
attacked  at  Warm  Springs,  N.  C.,  by  a  detachment  of  the  Twenty-fifth  North  Caro 
lina  regiment.  The  rebels  lest  six  killed  and  thirty  wounded.  The  Unionists 
finally  joined  the  Union  forces  in  East  Tennessee."  If  we  mistake  not,  there  were 
100,000  or  more  Union  men  in  our  armies  from  Tennessee. 

t  So  rigid  had  this  blockade  become,  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  1863,  that  it  is 
amusing  to  see  how  much  importance  was  attached  by  the  Confederates,  to  a  tem 
porary  interruption  of  it  at  Charleston,  and  the  successful  attempt  of  one  of  these 
vessels  with  a  valuable  cargo  to  get  out  of  the  harbor,  and  which  found  no  imita 
tors.  The  following  circular  was  immediately  issued  : 

HEADQUARTERS  OP  THE  LAND  AND  NAVAL  FORCKS,  I 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  January  31.  f 

"At  about  5  o'clock  this  morning,  the  Confederate  States  naval  force  on  this 
station  attacked  the  U.  S.  blockading  fleet  off  the  harbor,  and  sunk,  dispersed  and 
drove  off  and  out  of  sight  for  the  time,  the  entire  hostile  fleet.     Therefore,  we,  the 
undersigned  commanders,  respectively  of  the  Confederate  States  naval  and  land 
forces  in  this  quarter,  do  hereby  formally  declare  the  blockade  by  the  U.  S.,  of  the 
said  city  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  to  be  raised  by  a  superior  force  of  the  Confederate 
States,  from  and  after  this  31st  day  of  January,  A.  D.  186:-?. 
G.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  General  Commanding-. 
D.  N.  INWRAHAM,  Flag  Officer  Commanding  Naval  Forces  in  S.  C." 


812  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

over  some  of  their  wisest  military  commanders  and  states 
men  felt  that  the  inability  to  raise  troops  in  sufficient 
numbers  must  make  the  struggle  hopeless. 

It  was  during  October  and  November  of  this  year  that  one 
of  the  great  operations  of  the  war — which  hastened  the  end, 
the  capture  of  Chattanooga— was  successfully  accomplished. 

The  town  of  Chattanooga  lies  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee 
river,  300  miles  or  more  from  its  mouth.  At  this  point  it  flows 
through  the  mountains  with  a  deep  and  strong  current.  It  is  at  the 
northern  end  of  a  valley  five  or  six  miles  in  width,  with  Missionary 
Kidge  on  the  east  rising  from  500  to  800  feet  above  the  valley,  and 
and  with  Lookout  mountnin,  2,200  feet  above  tidewater,  a  little  to  the 
southwest.  This  mountain  pushes  up  abruptly  to  the  river,  leaving 
scarcely  room  between  it  and  the  river  for  the  Ohio  and  Mobile  rail 
road  and  others,  which  connect  the  Northern  lakes  with  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  with  room  for  the  town  lying  a  little  farther  north.  At  its 
northern  end  and  nearest  to  the  town,  the  mountain  rises  almost  per 
pendicularly,  then  breaks  off  in  a  gentle  slope  of  cultivated  fields  to 
near  the  summit,  where  it  ends  in  a  palisade  thirty  or  forty  feet  in 
height.  On  this  gently  sloping  ground,  between  the  upper  and  lower 
palisades,  there  is  a  single  farmhouse,  which  is  reached  by  a  wagon 
road  from  the  valley  to  the  east. — ["War  Book"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  685. 

General  Grant's  account  of  the  state  of  affairs  when  he 
took  command,  shows  that  at  that  time  Rosecrans  was 
practically  besieged,  and  was  short  of  ammunition  and  of 
medical  supplies.  The  state  of  things  was  deemed  so 
critical  at  Washington,  that  Mr.  Stanton,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  had  been  sent  to  Louisville  to  meet  General  Grant 
and  put  him  in  command  of  the  whole  military  division  of 
the  Mississippi.  One  of  his  first  orders  telegraphed  to 
General  Thomas  was,  that  Chattanooga  must  be  held  at  all 
hazards,  and  informing  him  at  the  same  time  that  he  would 
be  at  the  front  as  soon  as  possible;  to  which  Thomas 
replied  :  "  We  will  hold  the  town  till  we  starve.''  Burn- 


The  foreign  consuls  in  the  Confederacy  were  officially  notified  of  the  alleged  fact, 
in  a  circular  from  .).  P.  Benjamin,  Confederate  Secretary  of  State,  "for  the  infor 
mation  of  such  vessels  of  your  nation  as  may  choose  to  carry  on  commerce  with 
the'  now  open  port  of  Charleston." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  813 

side  was  in  command  at  Knoxville,  and  in  about  as  desperate 
condition  as  Uosecrans,  only  he  was  not  yet  besieged.  The 
government  at  Washington  was  distressed  about  him,  and 
constantly  telegraphing  to  Grant  to  relieve  him  it'  possible. 
The  Confederacy  also  were  known  to  be  dispatching  Long- 
street's  superior  corps  of  15,000  troops,  besides  Wheeler's 
5,000  cavalry,  to  recover  Knoxville,  knowing  that  if  they 
were  ever  to  regain  those  States  so  fast  drifting  away  from 
the  Lost  Cause,  it  must  be  done  then,  when  Burnside  was 
so  beset  and  Rosecrans  could  do  nothing  for  his  own 
relief.  General  Sherman  was  engaged  in  repairing  roads 
and  rebuilding  railroads  from  Memphis  towards  Chatta 
nooga  to  bring  up  supplies,  though  the  railroads  were 
destroyed  behind  him  as  fast  as  they  were  built.  Sherman 
was  ordered  to  abandon  that  work,  intercept  a  rebel  force 
entering  East  Tennessee,  and  push  on  with  the  utmost 
dispatch  to  Chattanooga,  which  he  did.  There  was  another 
re-enforcement  also  which  was  hastening  to  their  relief. 
It  was  Hooker's  superb  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  corps  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  consisting  of  20,000  troops,  trans 
ferred  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  almost  in  a  night  to 
the  sides  of  Lookout  mountain  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  The  origin  of  that  movement,  as  given  by  Mr.  Draper 
in  his  history  of  the  war,  reads  more  like  romance  than 
history,  and  yet  the  reality  and  results  of  it  changed  the  whole 
complexion  of  our  military  operations  in  the  Southwest. 

The  government  was  filled  with  apprehension  lest  Rosecrans  should 
abandon  Chattanooga  and  attempt  a  retreat,  which  could  only  end 
disastrously.  At  a  consultation,  Lincoln  seemed  to  be  almost  in 
despair.  "I  advise,"  said  Stauton,  ''that  a  powerful  detachment 
should  be  sent  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  open  the  road." 
Lincoln  smiled  incredulously.  Halleck  considered  such  an  attempt 
impractical.  "  I  do  not,"  said  the  Secretary  of  War,  "offer  this 
opinion  without  having  first  thoroughly  informed  myself  of  all  the 
details.  I  will  undertake  to  move  20,000  men  from  the  army  on  the 
Rapidan,  and  place  them  on  the  Tennessee  near  Chattanooga,  within 
nine  days."  Not  without  reluctance  did  Lincoln  give  his  const-tit 


314  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

that  the  Eleventh  aud  Twelfth  corps  should  be  so  moved;  his  impres 
sion  was  that  they  were  not  more  than  15,000  or  16,000  strong,  for 
since  the  Peninsular  campaign  it  had  been  the  habit  of  officers  to 
underestimate  their  strength.  The  measure  once  determined  upon, 
the  energetic  Secretary  had  everything  cleared  off  the  roads,  and  soon 
an  almost  continuous  line  of  cars  was  transporting  the  troops.  They 
were  fed  as  they  went  along;  not  a  moment's  delay  was  permitted. 
In  this  surprising  movement,  but  a  single  man  was  lost.  With  so 
much  celerity  and  accuracy  was  it  conducted,  that  the  Confederates 
knew  nothing  whatever  of  it  until  Hooker  was  in  their  front. 
Hooker's  troops  were  kept  along  the  railroad,  that  it  might  not  aggra 
vate  the  suffering  at  Chattanooga.  The  strength  of  these  two  corps 
was  23,000,  and  thus  with  their  artillery  trains,  baggage  and  animals 
they  were  transferred  from  the  Rapidan  in  Virginia  to  Stevenson  in 
Alabama  in  seven  days,  a  distance  of  1,192  miles,  twice  crossing  the 
Ohio  river.— [Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  77. 

General  Bragg,  in  command  of  the  Confederate  forces  at 
this  point,  and  with  his  extensive  and  advantageous  fortifi 
cations,  might  well  have  felt  secure  of  a  bloodless  victory. 
He  had  only  to  wait  for  famine  to  do  its  work,  while  he 
wasted  neither  men  nor  ammunition  in  hastening  the  re 
sult.  He  had  also  a  force  of  some  60,000,  while  ours  might 
have  been  at  least  80,000,  but  was  in  a  disadvantageous 
position.  The  Confederacy  saw  an  opportunity  to  recover 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  General  Longstreet  had  been 
ordered  to  operate  against  Burnside  at  Knoxville,  while 
Bragg  was  to  hold  Rosecrans.  The  government  at  Wash 
ington  was  telegraphing  Grant  to  relieve  Burnside  if  possi 
ble.  The  struggle,  however,  was  made  at  Chattanooga. 
Grant  brought  to  his  aid  Sherman,  with  a  portion  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Sheridan  with  his  cavalry,  General 
W.  F.  Smith's  engineers,  General  Thomas  with  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  also  a  portion  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  under  Generals  Hooker,  Howard,  Slocum 
and  Granger.  Without  waiting  for  better  roads  or  better 
weather,  he  ordered  the  assault  of  the  enemy's  works  on 
November  23. 

General  Smith,  the  chief  engineer  of  his  army,  had  built 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  315 

pontoon  boats,  and  with  troops  in  them  floated  them  down 
the  river  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  with  such  suc 
cess  as  to  capture  the  sentries  at  the  landing,  and  had  also 
thrown  two  bridges  across  the  river  over  which  Sherman 
with  his  large  force  and  good  quantity  of  supplies,  crossed 
safely  and  reached  Chattanooga  without  much  fighting, 
adding  greatly  to  the  courage  and  hope  of  the  Union 
forces.  Grant  had  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Wood,  a  well- 
fortified  position  just  east  of  the  town,  and  which  com 
manded  a  view  of  Missionary  Ridge  on  the  left,  and  Lookout 
mountain  on  the  right,  and  indeed  brought  every  position 
and  movement  of  the  enemy  within  range.  When  he 
moved  forward  to  Orchard  Knob,  where  Thomas  was  form 
ing  his  resistless  line  of  assault,  whence  Sherman  seized 
and  held  possession  of  those  strongly  fortified  heights  of 
Missionary  Ridge,  where  General  Bragg  and  the  bulk  of  his 
army  lay  entrenched ;  it  became  certainly  the  most  "  pic 
turesque,"  if  not  the  most  skillfully  fought  battle  of  the 
war.  And  especially  when  Hooker  climbed  that  Lookout 
mountain,  and  in  the  mists  and  smoke  could  be  followed  up 
the  high  ascent,  until  his  columns  and  their  flags  were  seen 
above  the  clouds.  This  scene  has  well  become  in  painting 
and  poetry,  as  well  as  in  history,  the  "  Battle  Above  the 
Clouds."  The  following  is  General  Grant's  account  of  it 
and  of  the  result  :— 

Thomas  and  I  were  on  the  top  of  Orchard  Knob.  Hooker's  advance 
now  made  our  line  a  continuous  one.  It  was  in  full  view,  extending 
from  the  Tennessee  river,  where  Sherman  had  crossed  up  the  Chicka- 
mauga  river  to  the  base  of  Missionary  Ridge,  over  the  top  of  the 
north  end  of  the  ridge,  to  Chattanooga  valley,  then  along  parallel  to 
the  ridge  a  mile  or  more,  across  the  valley  to  the  mouth  of  Chatta 
nooga  creek,  thence  up  the  slope  of  Lookout  mountain  to  the  foot  of 
the  upper  palisade.  The  day  was  hazy,  so  that  Hooker's  operations 
were  not  visible  to  us  except  at  moments  when  the  clouds  would 
rise.  But  the  sound  of  his  artillery  and  musketry  was  heard  inces 
santly.  The  enemy  on  his  front  was  partially  fortified,  but  was  soon 
driven  out  of  his  works.  At  2  o'clock  the  clouds,  which  had  so 


316  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

obscured  the  top  of  Lookout  mountain  all  day  long  as  to  hide  what 
ever  was  going  on  from  the  view  of  those  below,  settled  down  so  and 
made  it  so  dark  where  Hooker  was  as  to  stop  operations  for  the  time. 
At  4  o'clock  Hooker  reported  his  position  as  impregnable.  By  a  little 
after  5  o'clock  direct  communication  was  established  and  a  brigade  of 
troops  was  sent  from  Chattanooga  to  re-enforce  him.  These  troops 
met  with  some  opposition,  which  was  soon  overcome,  and  I  tele 
graphed  to  Washington:  "The  fight  to-day  progressed  favorably. 
Sherman  carried  the  end  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  his  right  is  now  at 
the  tunnel  and  his  left  at  Chattanooga  creek.  Troops  from  Lookout 
valley  carried  the  point  of  the  mountain,  and  now  hold  the  eastern 
slope  and  a  point  high  up.  Hooker  reports  2,000  prisoners  taken, 
besides  which  a  small  number  have  fallen  into  our  hands  from  Mis 
sionary  Ridge."— ["War  Book,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  704. 

General  Joseph  S.  Fullerton  of  the  Army  of  the  Cum 
berland  in  this  battle,  in  his  article  on  the  subject  (kt  War 
Book,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  719),  gives  a  description  and  an  engrav 
ing  of  the  carrying  of  Lookout  mountain,  which  is  most 
interesting,  as  well  as  instructive,  as  to  the  how  it  came  to 
be  stormed  to  the  very  summit,  without  orders  and  even 
contrary  to  orders.  General  Grant's  order  was  "  to  move 
forward  and  take  the  rifle-pits  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge," 
though  in  Sheridan's  division  the  order  read  :  u  As  soon  as 
the  signal  is  given,  the  whole  line  will  advance,  and  you 
will  take  what  is  before  you."  They  struggled  up  the 
steep  ascent,  and  scattered  over  the  slightly  wooded  and 
broad  mountain  side  leading  up  to  the  palisade  at  the  top, 
to  find  the  ground  furrowed  by  ravines,  and  more  or  less 
obstructed  by  felled  trees.  At  the  signal,  20,000  men 
rushed  forward,  moving  in  line  of  battle  by  brigades,  with 
a  double  line  of  skirmishers  in  front,  closely  followed  by 
the  reserves  in  mass.  They  were  met  by  heavy  siege  jruns 
from  above,  as  well  as  by  the  lighter  artillery  and  musketry 
in  the  valley,  but  neither  fell  back  nor  halted. 

The  ground  was  so  broken  that  it  was  impossible  to  keep  a  regular 
line  of  battle.  The  men,  fighting  and  climbing  up  the  steep  ascent, 
sought  the  roads,  ravines  and  less  rugged  parts.  At  times  their 
movements  were  in. shape  like  the  flight  of  migrating  birds,  some- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  317 

times  in  line,  sometimes  in  mass,  mostly  in  V-shaped  groups,  with 
points  toward  the  enemy.  At  these  points  regimental  flags  were 
flying,  sometimes  drooping  as  the  bearers  were  shot,  but  never  reach 
ing  the  ground,  for  other  brave  hands  were  there  to  seize  them. 
Sixty  flags  were  advancing  up  the  hill.  Bragg  was  hurrying  large 
bodies  of  men  from  his  right  to  the  center.  They  could  be  seen 
hastening  along  the  ridge.  Though  exposed  to  a  terrific  fire,  they 
neither  fell  back  nor  halted.  By  a  bold  and  desperate  push  they 
broke  through  the  works  in  several  places,  and  opened  flank  and 
reverse  fires.  The  enemy  was  thrown  into  confusion,  and  took  pre 
cipitate  flight  up  the  ridge.  Many  prisoners  and  a  large  number  of 
small  arms  were  captured.  The  order  of  the  commanding  general 
had  now  been  fully  and  most  successfully  carried  out.  But  it  did  not 
go  far  enough  to  satisfy  these  brave  men,  who  thought  the  time  had 
come  to  finish  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  There  was  a  halt  of  but  a 
few  minutes  to  take  breath,  and  to  reform  lines;  then,  without 
orders,  all  started  up  the  ridge,  officers  catching  their  spirit,  first 
followed,  then  led.  There  was  no  thought  of  supports,  or  of  protecting 
flanks,  though  the  enemy's  line  could  be  seen  stretching  on  either  side. 

Here  is  pleasantly  revealed  by  a  little  incident  the  spirit 
of  a  commander,  and  of  his  officers  and  men,  but  for 
which  literal  disobedience  to  a  military  order,  though  justi 
fied  by  the  result,  might  have  been  made  a  serious  offense. 
General  Fullerton  goes  on  to  say  . — 

As  soon  as  this  movement  was  seen  from  Orchard  Knob,  Grant 
quickly  turned  to  Thomas,  who  stood  by  his  side,  and  I  heard  him 
say  angrily:  "Thomas,  who  ordered  those  men  up  the  ridge?" 
Thomas  replied  in  his  usual  slow,  quiet  manner:  "I  don't  know,  I 
did  not."  Then  addressing  General  Gordon  Granger,  he  said:  u  Did 
you  order  them  up,  Granger ?"  "No,"  said  Granger,  "they  started 
up  without  orders.  When  those  fellows  get  started  you  can't  stop 
them."  General  Grant  said  something  to  the  effect  that  somebody 
would  suffer  for  it  if  it  did  not  turn  out  well,  and  then  turning 
stoically,  watched  the  ridge,  and  gave  no  further  orders.  I  remember, 
too,  that  shortly  after  the  battle  was  over,  General  Granger  rode  along 
our  lines  and  said  in  a  joking  way  to  the  troops,  "  I  am  going  to  have 
you  all  court-martialed;  you  were  ordered  to  take  the  works  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill;  you  have  taken  those  on  top!  You  have  disobeyed 
orders,  all  of  you,  -md  you  know  that  you  ought  to  be  court-martialed !  " 

So  on  the  25th  of  November,  1863,  after  two  days  of 
most  skillful  fighting,  and  not  with  such  fearful  slaughter 


318  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

as  in  several  other  battles,*  the  field  was  won,  General 
Bragg  and  his  army  in  full  retreat,  the  siege  of  Chatta 
nooga  raised,  and  all  that  valley  and  virtually  those  South 
western  States  had  passed  out  from  under  the  control  of 
the  Confederacy.  This  victory  was  followed  by  a  move 
ment  to  relieve  Burnside  at  Knoxville.  Sherman  led  it, 
but  Longstreet  did  not  wait  for  his  arrival  and  abandoned 
the  siege  before  his  arrival.  General  Grant  sums  up  the 
situation  in  these  words :  "  Knoxville  was  now  relieved, 
the  anxiety  of  the  President  was  removed,  and  the  loyal 
portion  of  the  North  rejoiced  over  the  double  victory,  the 
raising  of  the  siege  of  Knoxville  and  the  victory  at  Chatta 
nooga."  It  is  in  his  account  of  this  campaign  that  he 
declares :  "  There  was  no  time  during  the  rebellion  that  I 
did  not  think  and  often  say,  that  the  South  was  more  to  be 
benefited  by  defeat  than  the  North." 

The  annual  Thanksgiving,  observed  in  New  England  and 
spreading  among  the  Northern  States,  was  observed  this 
autumn  more  extensively  and  with  new  significance.  It 
was  appointed  by  the  proclamation  of  the  several  governors, 
and  generally  observed  the  last  of  November.  This  year  it 
came  on  the  26th,  the  day  after  the  Chattanooga  victory. 
It  came  too  soon  to  have  the  completeness  of  that  vic 
tory  known,  but  the  prospect  of  it,  following  so  soon  Gettys 
burg  and  Vicksburg,  giving  so  much  more  hopeful  an  aspect 
to  the  Union  cause,  caused  the  day  to  be  more  gen 
erally  observed  and  with  a  deeper  significance  than  ever. 
The  President  had  issued  for  the  first  time  a  proclama- 


*  The  battle  of  Chickamauga,  which  was  only  a  month  earlier,  and  in  which  Rose- 
crans  was  in  command,  and  badly  defeated  and  then  shut  up  in  Chattanooga,  is  an 
illustration  of  this  kind.  Our  army  is  estimated  to  have  been  56,965  strong,  and  the 
Confederate,  71  ,-551.  And  in  that  four-days'  fighting,  we  lost  16,000,  while  the 
enemy  lost  17,000.  In  this  battle  at  Chattanooga,  our  loss  was  5,815  out  of  a  force 
of  60,000,  which  was  probably  greater  than  that  of  Bragg's,  as  we  were  the  attack 
ing  party,  while  the  Confederate  loss  is  estimated  at  6,687  out  of  somewhat  near 
the  same  force,  though  not  likely  to  have  been  so  great.— ["  War  Book,"  Vol.  Ill, 
pp  670-673. 


WILLIAM   A.     BUCKINGHAM.  319 

tion,*  recommending  its  universal  adoption,  to  be  followed  by 
the  several  governors  endorsing  the  same,  and  it  was  charac 
terized  by  so  much  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  reasonableness,  and 
reverence,  and  dependence  upon  the  divine  favor  for  the  suc 
cess  of  our  cause,  that  it  was  met  with  a  more  general  and 
deeper  response  than  was  ever  known  before.  Indeed,  we 
had  reached  that  point  in  the  history  of  the  war,  when 
under  its  rigid  discipline,  its  repeated  rebukes  of  our  self- 
confidence,  and  self-righteousness  and  vain  reliance  upon 
statesmen,  generals  and  editors,  we  were  glad  of  divine 
aid,  and  were  not  ashamed  to  pray  for  it  or  to  give  public 
and  loud  thanks  when  it  came.  We  thought  of  our  sins, 
and  especially  of  that  great  crime  against  God  and  man, 
which  had  been  too  long  tolerated,  and  which  had  now 
lifted  its  parricidal  hand  against  the  most  parental  govern 
ment  the  world  had  ever  seen.  It  seemed  as  if  for  these 
three  years  God's  hand  had  been  holding  the  whole  land, 
North  and  South,  as  by  a  thread  of  tow  over  the  very  fires 
of  perdition.  And  who  would  not  think  of  his  sins,  and 
cry  for  forgiveness  as  well  as  for  deliverance? 

Those  of  us  who  can  remember  our  Sunday  services 
during  the  war,  can  recall  the  effect  produced  by  such  a 
state  of  things.  The  telegraph  reached  every  important 
town  and  many  of  the  villages,  and  we  went  to  church  as 
liable  to  hear  of  some  sad  defeat  as  of  an  important  victory, 
and  if  not  of  such  wholesale  joy  or  sorrow,  to  learn  that 


*  After  our  victory  at  Gettysburg,  President  Lincoln  called  upon  the  people  to 
assemble  in  their  churches  and  bless  God  for  his  interposition  and  mercy.  So  also 
after  the  news  came  of  Vicksburg's  fall,  he  summoned  them  again  to  observe  a  day 
of  national  thanksgiving,  praise  and  prayer,  and  "  render  the  homage  due  to  the 
Divine  Majesty  for  the  wonderful  things  he  has  done  in  the  nation's  behalf ; "  and 
still  again  when  Chattanooga  was  relieved  and  the  Confederate  forces  driven  out 
of  Tennessee,  he  called  upon  the  people  to  come  together  in  their  Christian  assem 
blies  and  •'  render  special  homage  and  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  his  great 
advancement  of  the  national  cause. ' '  But  it  was  especially  in  that  proclamation  for 
the  usual  Thanksgiving  that  his  humility  and  reverence  toward  God,  and  spirit  of 
tender  pity  toward  all  who  were  suffering  by  the  war,  however  misguided  they  may 
have  been,  that  the  religious  character  into  which  he  had  been  growing  was  most 
distinctly  showing  itself. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

some  family  had  lost  a  father,  son  or  brother,  and  that  the 
remains  were  on  the  way  home  for  burial.  And  when  they 
came,  with  what  tender  religious  services,  and  universal 
and  deepest  sympathy,  we  laid  our  boy  to  his  rest  among 
his  kindred  and  neighbors.  We  remember  as  one  feature  of 
those  services — never  known  before  and  almost  forgotten 
now — the  use  we  made  of  the  old  "  Battle  Song  of  the 
Reformation."  It  seemed  written  for  the  times,  and 
especially  when  the  minister  read  the  second  verse  as  it 
was  originally  written  :— 

"  Fear  not!  be  strong!  your  cause  belongs 
To  Him  who  can  avenge  your  wrongs; 

Leave  all  to  him,  your  Lord ; 
Though  hidden  yet  from  mortal  eyes, 
He  knows  the  Gideon  that  shall  rise, 
And  save  us  from  our  enemies," 

instead  of  that  vaguer  and  less  suggestive  version  of  if, 
found  in  our  hymn  books.*  The  justness  of  this  criticism 

*  The  hymn  as  usually  printed  runs  thus,  and  is  found  in  Lowell  Mason's  "  8al>- 
bath  Tune  Book  "  and  sung  to  the  tune  of  "Ganges"  :•— 

"  Fear  not,  O  little  flock,  the  f  oo 
Who  madly  seeks  your  overthrow  ; 

Dread  not  his  rage  and  power  ; 
What  though  your  courage  sometimes  faints, 
This  seeming  triumph  o'er  God's  saints 

Lasts  but  a  little  hour. 

"  Fear  not !  be  strong  !  your  cause  belongs 
To  Him  who  can  avenge  your  wrongs  ; 

Leave  all  to  him,  your  Lord  ! 
Though  hidden  yet  from  mortal  eyes. 
Salvation  shall  for  you  arise 

II  r  girdeth  on  his  sword  ! 

"  As  s-ire  as  God's  own  promise  stands, 
Not  earth,  nor  hell,  with  all  their  bands, 

Against  you  shall  prevail ! 
The  Lord  shall  mock  them  from  his  throne  ; 
God  is  with  us,  we  are  his  own  ; 

Our  vict'ry  cannot  tail ! 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  321 

will  be  seen,  when  it  is  remembered  how  long  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  in  finding  its  proper  commander.  Sure 
we  are  that  the  influence  of  the  war  upon  the  people  at 
home,  and  the  community  at  large,  was  a  distinctively 
religious  one.  It  not  only  summoned  the  people  to  a  great 
duty,  and  called  them  to  make  sacrifices  never  required 
before,  and  by  motives  the  most  momentous,  and  many  of 
them  the  most  religious,  and  gave  them  a  depth  and  breadth 
of  sympathy  with  all  classes  who  shared  in  the  hardships 
and  sufferings  of  the  war ;  but  it  brought  to  view,  as  never 
before,  the  God  of  heaven  as  the  God  of  nations,  who  had 
given  them  their  location  on  the  earth  and  their  place  in 
history,  and  holding  them  responsible  as  communities  for 
their  wrong  doings,  and  redress  of  wrongs,  and  ready  to 
make  them  either  the  guides  or  the  warnings  of  history. 
So  that  under  such  discipline,  it  was  not  strange,  before  the 
war  was  over,  the  crowds  that  gathered  in  Wall  street  to 
hear  the  announcements  from  the  front  of  some  victory, 
could  only  find  expression  for  their  joy  in  singing  the  Dox- 
ology  of  the  sanctuary,  '-Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless 
ings  flow." 

In  this  connection  we  may  well  call  to  mind  the  spirit  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  official  documents,  and  public  and  pri 
vate  utterances,  while  they  showed  no  pretentious  piety, 
nor  made  appeals  for  effect  to  the  Christian  sentiment  of 
the  people,  were  eminently  reverential  and  devout,  recog 
nizing  the  dependence  of  the  nation  for  success  in  their 
struggle,  upon  our  righting  the  wrongs — now  that  we  had 
the  opportunity — of  those  whom  we  had  held  for  genera 
tions  in  slavery;  his  kindly  feeling  toward  those  whom  war 
had  made  enemies,  and  his  incessant  endeavor  to  save  them 


'•  Amen  !  Lord  Jesus,  grant  our  prayer  ; 
(ireat  captain  !  now  thine  arm  make  bare, 

Thy  church  with  strength  defend  ; 
So  shall  all  saints  and  martyrs  raise 
A  joyful  chorus  to  thy  praise, 

Through  ages  without  end  !  " 


322  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

from  all  unnecessary  loss  and  sorrow;  his  almost  super 
human  patience  with  those  who  misrepresented  and  vilified 
and  hated  him;  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  went  calmly 
forward  from  the  first,  toward  threatened  assassination,  and 
to  final  martyrdom. 

But  it  is  in  the  President's  personal  and  deepest  experi 
ences,  that  we  find  most  reason  to  respect  and  sympathize 
with  his  piety.  "  I  have  been  driven  many  times  to  my 
knees,"  he  said  to  a  friend,  "  by  the  overwhelming  convic 
tion  that  I  had  nowhere  else  to  go."  And  to  another  he 
said :  "  I  should  be  the  most  presumptuous  blockhead 
upon  this  footstool,  if  I  for  one  day  thought  that  I  could 
discharge  the  duties  which  have  come  upon  me  since  I 
came  into  this  place,  without  the  aid  and  enlightenment  of 
One  who  is  wiser  and  stronger  than  all  others."  "  If  it 
were  not  for  my  firm  belief  in  an  over-ruling  Providence," 
he  said,  in  reply  to  a  clergyman  who  referred  to  the  encour 
agement  we  have  to  trust  in  the  good  Providence  of  God, 
"  it  would  be  difficult  for  me,  in  the  midst  of  such  compli 
cations  of  affairs,  to  keep  my  reason  on  its  seat.  But  I  am 
confident  that  the  Almighty  has  his  plans,  and  will  work 
them  out,  and  whether  we  see  it  or  not,  they  will  be  the 
wisest  and  the  best  for  us.  I  have  always  taken  counsel  of 
him,  and  referred  to  him  in  my  plans,  and  have  never 
adopted  a  course  of  proceeding  without  being  assured,  as 
far  as  1  could  be,  of  his  approbation.  To  be  sure  he  has 
not  conformed  to  my  desires,  or  else  we  should  have  been 
out  of  our  trouble  long  ago.  On  the  other  hand,  his  will 
does  not  seem  to  agree  with  our  enemy  over  there  (point 
ing  across  the  Potomac).  He  stands  as  a  judge  between  us, 
and  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  accept  his  decisions.  We 
have  reason  to  anticipate  that  it  will  be  favorable  to  us,  for 
our  cause  is  right."  It  was,  however,  in  his  family  anxieties 
and  bereavement,  that  his  faith  and  submission  were  most 
severely  tested.  When  he  lost  one  of  his  boys  by  death, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  323 

and  the  other  and  youngest,  who  was  called  "Tad,"  seemed 
likely  to  follow,  he  sobbed:  "This  is  the  hardest  trial  of 
my  life!  Why  is  it?  Why  is  it?"  And  when  told  that 
many  were  praying  for  him,  he  replied:  "I  am  glad  to 
hear  that.  I  want  them  to  pray  for  me.  I  need  their 
prayers.  I  will  try  to  go  to  God  with  my  sorrows."  It 
was  about  this  time  that  he  made  a  notable  reply  to  a  lady, 
who  was  begging  him  to  let  certain  sick  soldiers  in  the  hos 
pital  be  sent  North  for  more  speedy  recovery,  and  who  s.aid: 
"They  have  been  faithful  to  the  government;  they  have 
been  faithful  to  you ;  they  will  still  be  loyal  to  the  govern 
ment,  do  what  you  will  with  them.  But  if  you  will  grant 
my  petition,  you  will  be  glad  as  long  as  you  live."  He 
bowed  his  head  and  with  a  look  of  sadness  which  it  is  im 
possible  for  language  to  describe,  said  :  "  /  shall  never  be 
glad  any  more"  Indeed,  before  this  time  the  impression 
had  been  fastening  itself  upon  him,  that  he  could  hardly 
survive  the  war.  "  I  feel  a  presentiment,"  he  said  to  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress  (a  presentiment  which  was  no  secret  among 
his  friends),  "  that  1  shall  not  outlast  the  rebellion.  When 
it  is  over,  my  work  will  be  done." 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  that  the  Gettysburg 
cemetery  was  dedicated.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania,  upon 
whose  soil  the  battle  had  been  fought,  and  many  of  whose 
sons  had  taken  part  in  the  struggle,  had  bought  a  large 
portion  of  the  battlefield,  for  the  resting  place  of  the  fallen 
and  for  monuments  to  the  famous  deeds  done  there,  and 
this  field  was  to  be  consecrated  to  this  purpose  with  appro 
priate  ceremonies.  Edward  Everett,  the  distinguished 
patriot  and  orator  of  Massachusetts,  was  naturally  selected 
to  deliver  the  principal  address.  And  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  it  was  worthy  of  the  occasion,  and,  but  for  what  fol 
lowed,  it  would  have  been  the  striking  feature  of  those  ser 
vices.  The  President,  however,  from  whom  little  else 
seems  to  have  been  expected  than  to  be  present  and  repre- 


324  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

sent  the  government  in  that  ceremony,  was  stirred,  as  the 
exercises  went  on,  by  thoughts  and  sentiments  of  his  own, 
to  which  he  gave  expression  in  that  brief  and  never-to-be- 
forgotten  address  of  his,  which  will  be  as  memorable  in 
history  as  that  battle,  and  a  summons  to  all  mankind  to 
maintain  the  only  free  government  which  had  lasted  a  cen 
tury,  and  to  which  this  people  were  to  reconsecrate  them 
selves  in  every  such  bloody  baptism.  They  are  familiar 
words  now,  but  it  is  fitting  to  set  them  down  once  more 
here  :— 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon 
this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to 
the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged 
in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  what  that  nation,  or  any  other  so  con 
ceived  or  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great 
battlefield  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
iield  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that 
that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we 
should  do  this.  But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot 
consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and 
dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  power  to 
add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what 
we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us, 
the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which 
they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather 
for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that 
from  these  honored  dead  we  here  take  increased  devotion  to  that 
cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we 
lu  re  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that 
this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that 
the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

GENERAL  GRANT  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  ARMIES. 

The  Change  in  Methods  When  the  Army  Came  Under  His  Com 
mand — The  Series  of  Flank  Movements  on  Richmond — The  Only 
Battle  Grant  "Would  Not  Fight  Again1'— A  Pause  After  the 
Terrible  Losses  on  Each  Side. 

Although  the  victories  at  Vicksburg,  Gettysburg  and 
Chattanooga,  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1863,  made  n 
turning  point  in  the  war,  they  had  fearfully  depleted  the 
armies  on  each  side,  and  it  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1864 
that  they  were  ready  for  more  great  operations.  Ft  was 
now  a  question  of  determination  and  resources.  The  South 
was  resolute  enough,  but  her  money  was  exhausted,  her 
credit  gone,  her  ports  so  closely  blockaded  that  she  could 
not  get  cotton  out  or  supplies  in.  The  conscription  had 
been  so  rigid  that  she  had  nearly  exhausted  the  available 
material.  She  had  one  advantage,  in  that  the  service 
being  for  the  war,  most  of  her  men  were  already  veterans. 
The  resources  of  the  North,  on  the  other  hand,  were  ample 
in  both  men  and  money.  And  by  this  time  all  peace 
measures  and  possible  compromises  were  pretty  much 
abandoned.  Even  New  York,  under  Governor  Seymour 
who  had  so  earnestly  counseled  peace  measures  and  almost 
resisted  the  government  draft  for  more  troops,  when  she 
found  Pennsylvania  invaded  and  her  own  territory  threat 
ened,  was  swept  over  by  a  tide  of  patriotism  that  carried  an 
army  of  its  own  to  the  front,  and  which  no  governor  could 
resist.  Meanwhile  the  other  Northern  governors  were 
redeeming  their  pledges  to  the  President,  and  he  was 


326  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM 

making  call  after  call  during  the  year,  amounting  to 
1,500,000  of  men  for  the  army  and  the  navy  ;  though  for 
credits  given  and  allowances  made  the  number  was  reduced 
to  900,000.*  During  those  nine  months,  from  July,  1863,  to 
May,  1864,  this  force  was  recruited,  equipped  and  put  into 
the  field.  Many  of  those  who  had  been  in  service  for  six 
aud  nine  months  and  for  three  years,  re-enlisted  for  the 
war,  as  most  of  the  Connecticut  troops  did,  thus  furnishing 
the  government  at  once  so  many  veteran  troops,  and  put 
ting  our  armies  in  this  respect  more  nearly  on  a  footing 
with  the  Confederate  forces.  When  the  spring  opened, 
sufficient  troops  were  poured  into  the  valley  of  the  Potomac 
from  New  England,  and  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
from  the  West,  to  finish  up  the  war  within  another  year. 

Our  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  also  found  at  last  its  com 
mander.  When  General  Grant  had  accomplished  his  great 
work  in  the  West,  he  was  summoned  to  Washington,  where 
Congress  had  revived  the  grade  of  Lieutenant  General  of 
our  armies,  hitherto  accorded  to  George  Washington  alone, 
General  Scott  having-  been  such  only  by  brevet,  and  the 
President  offered  him  that  position,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  should  personally  take  command  of  the  Potomac 
army  and  have  the  direction  of  all  the  military  movements  of 
the  government.  His  commission  was  dated  March  9, 1864. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  the  "  Personal  Memoirs "  of 
General  Grant  give  us  the  most  intelligible  and  certainly 
the  most  candid  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  war 
had  hitherto  been  conducted,  and  propose  the  plans  upon 
which  he  would  have  it  prosecuted  for  the  future.  He  puts 
us  into  the  most  confidential  communication  with  the 


*  The  number  of  men  called  for  during  the  year  may  be  thus  recapitulated  :— 
Call  of  February  1, 

Call  of  March  14,  200,000 

Call  of  July  18,  500,000 

Call  of  December  20, 

1,500  000 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  327 

President,  and  the  War  Department,  and  the  prominent 
commanders  of  the  army,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  see  reasons 
for  the  failure,  or  the  incomplete  results,  of  some  of  our 
most  important  military  expeditions.  And  he  shows  his 
own  modesty,  deference  to  the  government  authorities, 
courtesy  and  kind  judgment  toward  other  commanders, 
and  anxiety  to  have  those  who  had  been  relieved  of  their 
commands,  restored  to  service  somewhere,  while  he  frankly 
gives  his  opinion  of  their  fitness  or  unfitness  for  any  par 
ticular  service.  The  plan  of  General  Grant's  campaign, 
and  whatever  there  was  that  was  new  and  peculiar  in  it, 
are  fully  given  in  these  memoirs  and  in  his  correspondence 
with  the  government.  •'  The  Union  armies,"  he  says,  "  were 
now  divided  into  nineteen  departments,  though  four  of  them 
in  the  West  had  been  concentrated  into  a  single  military 
division.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  a  separate  com 
mand  and  had  no  territorial  limits.  There  were  thus 
seventeen  distinct  commands.  Before  this  time  these 
various  armies  had  acted  separately  and  independently  of 
each  other,  giving  the  enemy  an  opportunity  often  of 
depleting  one  command  not  pressed  to  re- enforce  another 
more  actively  engaged.  I  determined  to  stop  it." 

His  criticism  upon  the  past  conduct  of  the  war,  as  he 
writes  to  the  War  Department,  was  that  "  the  armies  of  the 
East  and  West  acted  independently  and  without  concert, 
like  a  balky  team,  no  two  pulling  together,  enabling  the 
enemy  to  use  to  great  advantage  the  interior  lines  of  com 
munication  for  transporting  troops  from  east  to  west, 
re-enforcing  the  army  most  vigorously  pressed,  and  to 
furlough  large  numbers  during  seasons  of  inactivity  on  our 
part,  to  go  to  their  homes  and  producing  for  the  support  of 
their  armies."  This  is  what  he  proposed  to  put  a  stop  to, 
by  making  one  army  of  the  whole,  and  all  its  movements 
co-operate  for  the  relief  and  assistance  of  the  rest.  Then 
the  fighting  was  to  be  made  more  constant  and  vigorous, 


328  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  less  account  made  of  losses,  trusting  in  the  superior 
resources  of  the  North  in  men  and  means  to  finally  exhaust 
the  South  and  leave  her  powerless,  as  was  successfully  done. 
From  an  early  period  in  the  rebellion  General  Grant 
writes  to  the  government:— 

1  had  been  impressed  with  the  idea  that  active  and  continuous 
operations  of  all  the  troops  that  could  be  brought  into  the  field,  re 
gardless  of  season  and  weather,  were  necessary  to  a  speedy  termina 
tion  of  the  war.  From  the  first,  I  was  firm  in  the  conviction  that  no 
peace  could  be  had  that  was  stable,  and  conducive  to  the  happiness  of 
the  people,  both  North  and  South,  until  the  military  power  of  the 
rebellion  was  entirely  broken.  I  therefore  determined,  first,  to  use 
the  greatest  number  of  troops  practicable  against  the  armed  force  of 
the  enemy,  preventing  him  from  using  the  same  force  at  different 
seasons  against  first  one  and  then  another  of  our  armies,  and  the 
possibility  of  repose  for  refitting  and  producing  necessary  supplies  for 
carrying  on  resistance;  second,  to  hammer  continuously  against  the 
armed  force  of  the  enemy  and  his  resources,  until  by  mere  attrition,  if 
in  no  other  way,  there  should  be  nothing  left  to  him  but  an  equal  sub 
mission,  with  the  loyal  section  of  our  common  country,  to  the  consti 
tution  and  laws  of  the  land.  These  views  have  been  kept  constantly 
in  mind,  and  orders  given,  and  campaigns  made,  to  carry  them  out. 

With  reference  to  the  criticisms  made  upon  his  cam 
paigns,  as  needlessly  wasteful  of  human  life,  his  defense  is  : 
"  Whether  these  campaigns  might  have  been  better  in  con 
ception  and  execution,  is  for  the  people,  who  mourn  the 
loss  of  friends  fallen,  and  who  have  to  pay  the  pecuniary 
cost,  to  say.  All  1  can  say  is,  that  what  I  have  done  has 
been  done  conscientiously,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and 
in  what  I  conceived  to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  whole 
country." 

According  to  this  new  plan  of  the  war,  all  our  Union 
armies  were  organized  as  one  army,  with  General  Grant  as 
its  commander-in-chief,  and  his  headquarters  wherever  he 
might  be,  whether  at  Culpepper  courthouse  at  first,  or  "  in 
the  saddle,"  where  he  -was  more  generally  to  be  found  after 
wards.  The  two  chief  armies  of  the  Confederacy — the  one 
under  Lee  on  the  Rapid  an  before  Richmond,  and  the  other 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  329 

under  Johnston  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  and  defending;  Atlanta — 
were  to  be  the  objective  points  of  the  campaign.  General 
Meade,  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under 
Grant,  was  instructed :  "  Lee's  army  will  be  our  objective 
point,  and  wherever  Lee  goes,  there  you  will  go  also,"  and 
to  this  army  the  commander-in-chief  was  to  be  attached 
personally.  To  Sherman  he  sent  orders  :  ''•  You  I  propose 
to  move  against  Johnston's  army,  to  break  it  up  and  to 
get  into  the  interior  of  the  enemy's  country  as  far  as  you 
can,  inflicting  all  the  damage  you  can  against  their  war 
resources." 

The  month  of  May  had  come,  and  General  Grant  had 
diligently  improved  the  six  weeks  since  he  received  his 
appointment,  in  perfecting  his  plans,  selecting  his  com 
manders,  and  rearranging  the  location  and  number  of  his 
troops  over  the  vast  field  of  his  military  command.  This 
field  for  active  operations  extended  from  Washington  to 
New  Orleans,  from  the  islands  around  Charleston  to  the 
bayous  of  Louisiana,  and  the  flooded  lands  of  the  Red 
River  country.  The  plan  included  co-operation  with  the 
fleets  on  the  James  river,  in  Mobile  bay,  and  in  the  capture 
of  Fort  Fisher.  At  many  of  these  points  large  forces  had 
to  be  kept  permanently  to  hold  possession  of  territory 
already  acquired,  and  to  retain  these  large  Confederate 
forces,  which  would  otherwise  be  swelling  Lee's  or  John 
ston's  army.  One  of  these — General  Lee's — was  protecting 
the  Confederate  capital,  just  as  our  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  defending  Washington,  while  the  other — General  John 
ston's — was  to  withstand  Sherman's  "  march  to  the  sea," 
and  his  desolation  of  the  Southern  States,  which  had  so 
much  to  do  with  the  termination  of  the  war.  And  to  the 
support  of  these  two  armies,  the  chief  energy  and  resources 
of  the  Confederacy  had  to  be  directed.  These  able  gen 
erals,  and  veteran  armies,  and  especially  the  former  with 
its  almost  impenetrable  position  among  the  forests,  ravines, 


330  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  tangled  thickets  of  the  Wilderness,  might  well  have 
made  any  other  less  resolute  general  hesitate  before  he 
launched  his  own  army,  superior  as  it  was  in  numbers  and 
appointments,  against  such  an  impregnable  and  well- 
defended  fortress.  And  whether  this  was  the  wisest,  or 
the  only  course  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  it  may  be  said, 
and  perhaps  this  ought  to  satisfy  us,  that  it  accomplished 
its  purpose,  and  after  three  years  of  fierce  and  indecisive 
fighting,  the  war  was  ended  in  a  single  year  after  Grant 
was  placed  in  command. 

The  Union  army  at«this  time  was  made  up,  in  preparation 
of  its  advance  movement,  of  Butler's  army  at  Fortress 
Monroe  for  its  left,  Meade's  army  the  center,  and  Sherman's 
its  right  at  Chattanooga.  Though  they  were  hundreds  of 
miles  apart,  they  were  to  advance  together  and  work  for 
the  same  end.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  which  were  to  come  first  into  con 
flict  and  fight  the  fiercest  battles  of  the  war,  if  not  of  the 
world,  were  both  of  them  superb  armies  in  their  numbers, 
commanders,  material  and  appointments.  The  former  num 
bered  114,000  enlisted  men,  and  included  such  commanders 
as  Meade,  Burnside,  Hancock,  Warren,  Sedgwick,  and 
Sheridan  with  his  12,000  cavalry,  and  224  guns.  Lee's 
total  strength  was  only  60,000  and  224  guns.  Though 
thus  inferior  in  numbers  and  armament,  he  still  had  the 
advantage  of  his  strong  and  fortified  positions  all  the  way 
back  to  Richmond.  He  had  also  more  veteran  troops,  as 
well  as  many  of  his  oldest  and  ablest  commanders — Long- 
street,  Early,  A.  P.  Hill,  and  Stuart  with  his  8,000  cavalry, 
though  he  had  already  lost  "  Stonewall "  Jackson. 

As  to  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  General  Sherman  says  : 
"  Regarding  ourselves  all  as  one  army  and  co-operating  in 
the  same  work,  Butler  was  to  move  from  Fortress  Monroe 
against  Richmond  on  the  south  of  the  James  river ;  Meade 
straight  against  Lee  entrenched  behind  the  Rapid  an ;  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  331 

1  was  to  attack  Joe  Johnston,  and  push  him  to  and  beyond 
Atlanta.     This,"  he  adds,  "  was  as  far  as  human  foresight 
could  penetrate."     Accordingly  on  the  4th  of  May,  1864, 
our  army  crossed  the  Rapidan  and  began  that  all-important 
and  fearful  campaign  of  the  Wilderness.     "  The  Wilderness 
is  a  -considerable   tract   of    broken   table-land,  stretching 
southward  from  the  Rapidan  nearly  to  Spottsylvania  court 
house,   seamed    with    ravines    and    densely    covered    with 
dwarfish  timber  and  bushes,  crossed  by  three  or  four  good 
roads,  and  by  a  multiplicity  of  narrow  cart  tracks,  used  in 
peace  only  by   woodcutters.      In   this   tangled    labyrinth, 
numbers,  artillery,  and  cavalry,  are  of  small  account ;  local 
knowledge,  advantage  of  position,  and  command  of  roads, 
everything.      It   was   Grant's   object  to   get   through  this 
chaparral  as  quickly  and  with  as  little  fighting  as  possible. 
It  was  Lee's  business  not  to  let  him."     Lee,  with  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  country  and  a  shorter  line,  got  there   before 
him,  and  Grant  had  to  take  things  as  they  were  and  fight 
him  where  he  found  him.     He  was  well  posted  and  in  full 
force,  and  before  our  troops  were  in  position,  or  supposed 
that   they   had  any  considerable  force    of   the   enemy  to 
encounter,  they  were  engaged  in  some  of  the  heaviest  and 
bloodiest  fighting  of  the  war.     The  first  day  there  was  nor 
much  done,  except  to  get  into  position  on  both  sides,  and 
to  bring  up  from  every  quarter  their  great  army  corps  and 
begin   the  struggle.      But   on   the   second   day  they  were 
well  engaged  in  it,  and  on  the  third,  from  early  dawn  till 
quite  into  the  night,  it  was  almost  a  hand-to-hand  "  bush 
fight,"  such  as  was  never  seen   before,  and  no  other  conti 
nent  could  have  furnished  such  a  field  for.     Some  of  the 
ground  between  the  two  armies  had  been  fought  over  four 
or  five  times.     The   weather  was  intensely   hot  and  dry, 
and  the  forest  in  places  had  caught  fire,  and  was  consuming 
the  wounded  with  the  dead,  until  there  was  an  amount  of 
human  suffering  gathered  there  such  as  probably  no  other 


332 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


battlefield  ever  saw.  Not  much  less  than  20,000  had  fallen 
on  the  Union  side  in  that  three-days'  fighting,  and  half  as 
many,  at  least,  of  the  Confederates.* 

The  next  day  Connecticut  lost  there  one  of  her  noble 
sons,  and  the  service  one  of  its  most  valuable  commanders, 
General  John  Sedgwick,  a  thorough  soldier,  and  greatly 
beloved  for  his  personal  qualities,  of  illustrious  lineage 
through  a  Revolutionary  ancestry,  and  Cromwell's  Iron 
sides;  thoroughly  educated  for  military  service  and  steadily 
promoted  by  the  government  until  he  attained  his  present 
rank.  He  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  at  Antietam,  and 
assigned  at  the  head  of  the  famous  Sixth  Corps,  to  storm 
and  hold  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg ;  and  twice  offered 
the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  was  as 
often  declined.  He  fell  as  he  was  reconnoitering  the  enemy 
preparatory  to  the  advance  of  his  column,  in  the  last  of  that 
Wilderness  fighting.  The  affection  felt  for  him  in  his 
native  State,  and  the  honor  shown  him  by  the  Governor 
and  officials,  as  they  buried  him  tenderly  at  Cornwall  Hol 
low,  his  country  home,  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere. 

General  Alexander  S.  Webb,  chief  of  staff  of  General 
Meade,  in  his  article  in  the  "  War  Book,"  "  Through  the 
Wilderness,"  furnishes  in  detail  and  with  trustworthy 
exactness,  the  following  particulars  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac,  of  which  General  Meade  was  in  command : 


*  (See  'l  War  Book."  Vol.  IV,  p.  248.)  Our  loss  in  officers  was  heavy.  The  coun 
try's  salvation  claimed  no  nobler  sacrifice  than  that  of  General  James  S.  Wads- 
worth  of  New  York.  Born  to  affluence  and  social  distinction,  already  past  the  age 
of  military  service,  he  had  volunteered  in  1861,  under  a  sense  of  duty  alone.  As  an 
aid  of  General  McDowell,  he  was  conspicuously  useful  at  Bull  Run.  Accustomed 
to  every  luxury,  he  had  courted  ever  since  the  hardships  and  perils  of  the  field. 
Made  the  Republican  candidate  for  governor  in  1862  by  an  overwhelming  majority, 
he  could  not  have  failed  to  be  elected  could  those  have  voted  who  like  himself 
were  absent  from  the  State  at  the  call  of  their  country,  and  though  he  peremp 
torily  declined,  his  fellow-citizens,  had  he  lived,  would  have  insisted  on  electing 
him  governor  in  1864.  Thousands  of  the  unnamed  have  evinced  as  fervid  and  pure 
:.i  patriotism,  but  no  one  surrendered  more  for  his  country's  sake,  or  gave  his  life 
more  joyfully  for  her  deliverance  than  did  James  S.  WadswoTth.—[ffreeley>t 
''American  Conflict,'1''  rot.  77,  p.  570. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM  833 

General  Meade  had  with  him,  according  to  his  report  of  April  30, 
just  as  that  campaign  began,  95,952  enlisted  men,  3,486  officers  and 
274  guns.  Hancock's  corps,  26,676  men;  Warren's,  24,125  men;  Sedg- 
wick's,  22,584  men,  while  Sheridan  controlled  12,525  in  the  cavalry.  To 
guard  all  these  trains,  there  was  a  special  detail  of  1,200;  General 
Grant  had  also  attached  the  Ninth  Corps  (General  Burnside's)  to  the 
army  as  an  independent  command,  operating  under  his  eye.  The 
total  force  under  General  Grant,  including  Burnside,  was  4,409  officers 
and  114,360  enlisted  men;  for  the  artillery,  he  had  9,945  enlisted  men 
and  285  officers;  in  the  cavalry,  11,839  enlisted  men  and  585  officers; 
in  the  provost  guards  and  engineers,  120  officers  and  3,274  enlisted 
men.  This  118,000  men,  properly  disposed  for  battle,  would  have 
covered  a  front  of  twenty-one  miles,  two  ranks  deep,  with  one-third  of 
them  held  in  reserve;  while  Lee,  with  his  62,000,  similarly  disposed 
for  battle,  would  cover  only  twelve  miles.  Grant  had  a  train  which, 
he  states  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  would  have  reached  from  the  Rapidan 
to  Richmond,  or  sixty-five  miles.— ["  War  tiook,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  152. 

Then  began  that  series  of  flank  movements  which  Gen 
eral  Grant  had  deliberately  adopted  and  persistently  adhered 
to,  and  which  has  been  so  severely  criticised,  though  it  finally 
ended  the  war.     He  gives  his  reason  for  it  in  this  case,  and 
had  the  same  reason  for  continuing  it,  until  he  had  reached 
the  other  side  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  and  could  invest 
them  both  by  a  regular  siege,  until  their  re-enforcements 
and  supplies  were  cut  off  and  both  were  compelled  to  sur 
render.     U0n  the   morning  of   the   7th,"   he   says  in   his 
report  to  the  government,  u  reconnoisances  showed  that  the 
enemy  had  fallen  behind  his  entrenched  lines,  with  pickets 
to  the  front  covering  a  part  of  the  battlefield.     From  this  it 
was  evident  to  my  mind  that  the  two-days'  fighting  had 
satisfied  him  of  his  inability  to  further  maintain  the  con 
test  in  the   open  field,  notwithstanding  his  advantage  of 
position,  and  that  he  would  await  an  attack   behind  his 
works.     1  therefore  determined  to  push  on  and    put  rnv 
whole  force  between  him  and  Richmond,  and  orders  were 
at  once  issued  for  a  movement  by  the  '  right  flank.'  "     This 
refers  to  his  frequent  and  favorite  mode  of  getting  around 
an  enemy  when  he  could  not  sweep  him  from  his  path,  to 


334  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

outflank  him,  to  move  around  the  extremity  of  his  column 
or  position  and  sweep  his  lines,  or  attack  him  in  the  rear. 
In  this  case  he  had  been  unsuccessful  in  it,  and  so  he  was 
at  Spottsylvania,  at  North  Anna,  fearfully  so  at  Cold  Harbor, 
and  only  successful  when  it  brought  him  south  of  James 
river,  and  finally  cut  off  the  Confederate  capital  from  its 
re-enforcements  and  supplies,  and  brought  that  four-years' 
war  to  a  close. 

The  march  was  commenced  toward  Spottsylvania  court 
house.  But  the  enemy  having  been  apprised  of  the  move 
ment,  and  having  the  shorter  line,  was  enabled  to  reach 
there  first.  A  few  days  were  spent  by  both  armies  in  ma 
neuvering  for  positions,  when  General  Hancock,  on  the  12th, 
made  his  famous  assault  upon  a  salient  of  the  enemy's 
works  (which  now  goes  by  the  name,  among  all  who  par 
ticipated  in  it,  of  the  "  Bloody  Angle/')  That  must  always 
be  regarded  as  phenomenal  in  military  courage,  discipline 
and  leadership,  on  both  sides.  The  position  was  carried 
and  was  held  at  a  fearful  sacrifice,  through  five  assaults  by 
Lee  in  quick  succession.  Tt  was  too  exposed  to  be  retained 
and  was  then  abandoned.  The  Union  losses  up  to  this 
time  were  39,000,  about  half  of  them  in  the  Wilderness. 
Heavy  rains  set  in  and  made  the  roads  so  heavy  that  opera 
tions  were  suspended  for  a  week.  Then  a  third  flank  move 
ment  was  made  to  the  south  side  of  the  North  Anna.  The 
river  was  carried  successfully  and  Lee  invested.  He  had  a 
strong  position,  and  after  three  days  the  Union  forces  with 
drew  without  risking  an  assault,  recrossed  the  river  and 
proceeded  to  make  the  fourth  flank  movement,  the  objec 
tive  point  of  which  was  Cold  Harbor  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Chickahominy.  Cold  Harbor  is  a  name  associated  with 
more  that  is  sanguinary  and  sad  than  any  other  battlefield 
of  this  campaign.  It  is  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Games' 
Mill,  where  McClellan  was  compelled  two  years  before  to 
begin  his  retreat  across  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  335 

The  attack  began  at  4.30,  on  the  morning  of  June  3.  The 
Union  advance  was  through  wooded  country  and  under  a 
terrible  fire  from  the  enemy.  It  is  said  that  in  the  first 
eight  minutes,  more  men  fell  than  in  any  other  like  period 
during  the  war.  Of  this  battle,  General  Grant  says,  as 
quoted  in  Young's  "  Around  the  World  with  General  Grant :" 
"Cold  Harbor  is,  I  think,  the  only  battle  I  ever  fought  that 
I  would  not  fight  again  under  the  same  circumstances." 
In  his  official  report  General  Grant  speaks  of  this  as  the 
only  general  attack  made  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James 
which  did  not  inflict  upon  the  enemy  losses  to  compensate 
for  our  losses. 

The  fifth  flank  movement  established  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  across  the  James  river,  opposite  Petersburg,  and 
within  twenty  miles  of  the  Confederate  capital,  where  it  was 
to  remain  and  carry  on  its  operations  to  better  advantage 
until  the  Confederacy  fell.  The  movement  was  accom 
plished  by  successive  extensions  of  the  different  corps 
towards  the  left,  and  was  so  well  disguised  by  cavalry  feints 
and  dashes,  that  the  whole  army  was  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river  before  Lee  discovered  the  purpose  of  the  move 
ments  that  had  been  made.  Lee  fell  back  to  •Richmond, 
and  the  contest  resolved  itself  into  a  siege  of  that  city.  The 
Union  losses  from  May  5  to  June  13  were  7,289  killed, 
37,406  wounded  and  856  missing.  Lee's  losses  were  about 
32,000. 

In  these  operations,  particularly  in  the  last  and  fatal  assaults  at 
Cold  Harbor,  the  Connecticut  troops  had  a  highly  honorable  and 
peculiarly  sad  share.  General  Robert  O.  Tyler,  who  as  colonel  of  the 
First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  had  almost  created  that  branch  of 
the  service  in  our  war,  and  proved  its  efficiency  at  Malvern  Hill  and 
Gettysburg,  was  here  in  command  of  the  reserve  artillery.  The 
Second  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  under  Colonel  Elisha  S.  Kellogg, 
had  just  joined  him  with  a  new  regiment  1,800  strong,  and  this  was  to 
be  their  baptism  of  blood.  "The  plan  of  the  battle  was  simple  and 
similar  to  that  of  Spottsylvania,  a  general  assault  with  the  bayonet 
along  the  front  of  six  miles,  to  be  made  in  column  by  division,  at 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

half-past  four  next  moruing.  All  caps  were  removed  from  the 
muskets.  It  was  not  later  than  forty-five  minutes  past  four  when  the 
whole  line  was  in  motion,  and  the  dark  hollows  between  the  armies 
were  lighted  up  with  the  fires  of  death.  It  took  hardly  more  than  ten 
minutes  of  the  figment  men  call  time  to  decide  the  battle.  There 
was  along  the  whole  line  a  rush,  the  spectacle  of  impregnable  works, 
a  bloody  loss,  then  a  sudden  falling  back,  and  the  action  was  decided. 
In  this  charge  Brigadier  General  R.  O.  Tyler,  while  gallantly  leading 
his  command,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg  and  carried  off  the 
field.  Three  of  his  regimental  commanders  were  killed."  Among 
these  was  Colonel  Kellogg.  He  had  led  infantry,  and  this  was  an 
infantry  regiment,  just  drilled  as  artillerists,  and  they  were  now  to 
act  as  infantry,  and  depend  upon  their  muskets  and  not  their  cannon. 
Afraid  lest  they  should  mistake  their  duties,  or  lose  courage  in  this 
their  first  battle  under  their  new  organization,  he  took  personal  care 
of  them,  "marked  out  on  the  ground  the  shape  of  the  works  to  be 
taken,  told  the  officers  what  disposition  to  make  of  the  different  bat 
talions  and  how  the  charge  should  be  made."  Then  putting  himself 
at  their  head,  and  cheering  them  on,  his  stately  form  a  conspicuous 
target  for  the  enemy's  fire,  he  fell  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  fight, 
pierced  with  several  bullets  through  his  head.  As  one  describes  the 
scene  just  after  the  battle:  "I  remember  at  one  point  a  mute  and 
pathetic  coincidence  of  sterling  valor.  The  Second  Connecticut  Heavy 
Artillery,  a  new  regiment,  had  joined  us  but  a  few  days  before  the 
battle.  Its  uniform  was  bright  and  fresh,  therefore  its  dead  were 
easily  distinguished  where  they  lay.  They  marked  in  a  dotted  line 
an  obtuse  angle,  covering  a  wide  front,  with  its  apex  toward  the 
enemy,  and  there  upon  his  face,  still  in  death,  with  his  head  to  the 
works,  lay  the  Colonel,  the  brave  and  genial  Colonel  Elisha  S.  Kel 
logg."  The  State  gave  him  fit  burial,  and  "  when  his  mortal  remains 
were  laid  in  the  pleasant  valley  at  Winsted,  a  thousand  hearts  turned 
tenderly  toward  his  grave."  The  losses  of  this  single  regiment  in 
that  single  assault  were  75  killed  and  184  wounded, — more  in  killed  and 
wounded  than  those  of  any  other  regiment  from  this  State  in  any 
battle. — ["Connecticut  in  the  IFar,"  p.  592. 

The  State  was  pretty  largely  represented  in  this  movement 
and  suffered  accordingly.  Colonel  Stedman,  who  was  imme 
diately  promoted  for  his  services  there,  and  who  soon  after 
fell  himself  in  trying  to  retrieve  the  bad  management  when 
the  mine  was  exploded  before  Petersburg,  was  in  command 
of  a  brigade  in  that  Cold  Harbor  assault,  which  contained 
several  Connecticut  regiments,  and  which  did  themselves 


WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM.  337 

credit,  as  well  as  suffered  heavy  loss.  "  We  left  the  woods," 
says  their  commander,  "  with  2,000  men ;  in  five  minutes  we 
returned,  t>00  less."  He  was  a  cultured  and  knightly  sol 
dier,  who  entered  the  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  war ;  took 
part  in  the  battle  of  Antietam,  leading  half  his  regiment  in 
the  charge  on  the  stone  bridge,  and  receiving  a  severe  wound. 
He  commanded  his  regiment  at  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville  and  Gettysburg,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  overland 
campaign  of  General  Grant,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a 
brigade.  His  grave  at  Hartford,  where  he  was  born,  is 
marked  by  a  monument  of  granite  and  bronze,  and  fitly 
represents  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held. 

"  Here  ended,  practically,  for  the  year  1864,  Grant's  deter 
mined,  persistent,  sanguinary  campaign  against  Lee's  army 
and  Richmond.  And  while  other  campaigns  were  more 
brilliant,  none  contributed  more  positively  and  eminently  to 
break  the  power  of  the  Confederacy  than  that  which  began 
on  the  Rapidan  and  ended  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  across 
the  Weldon  road."  For  the  next  nine  months,  General 
Grant  is  to  retain  that  position,  and  operate  from  that 
point  to  cut  off  the  resources  of  the  enemy,  and  prevent 
the  army  in  front  of  him  from  sending  many  re-enforce 
ments  elsewhere,  while  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  cleans 
that  valley  of  Confederate  invaders  and  supplies  for  their 
armies,*  and  Sherman  pushes  his  way  down  through  Ten- 

*  After  General  Lee  was  driven  into  Richmond,  he  sent  General  Jubal  A.  Early, 
one  of  his  able  commanders,  into  the  Shenandoah  valley— the  grainery  of  the  Con 
federacy,  and  the  avenue  through  which  the  Northern  States  were  to  be  invaded— 
where  he  found  General  Hunter  far  from  his  base  and  with  inadequate  supplies  of 
food  and  ammunition,  and  drove  him  out  of  the  valley.  "  General  Grant  therefore 
cast  about,"  says  General  Sherman,  "for  a  suitable  commander  for  this  field  of 
operations,  and  settled  upon  Major  General  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  whom  he  had 
brought  from  the  West  to  command  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. " 
He  left  for  his  new  field  of  operations  in  August,  and  continued  them  there  until  he 
had  beaten  his  antagonist  in  fair  and  open  battle,  sending  him,  as  he  expressed  it, 
•'  whirling  up  the  valley."  General  Early  reorganized  his  army,  and  fell  upon  the 
Union  forces  in  October  at  Cedar  Creek  and  thoroughly  defeated  them,  while 
Sheridan  was  absent.  Sheridan  was  opportunely  returning,  and  met  his  disorgan 
ized  and  demoralized  men  in  full  retreat,  when  with  his  peculiar  adroitness  and 
personal  magnetism,  he  rallied  them  around  him  and  led  them  back  to  that  battle 


338  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

nessee  and  the  whole  tier  of  Southern  States,  to  appear  on 
the  Atlantic  and  join  his  commander  and  friend  in  accept 
ing  the  surrender  of  all  that  remains  of  the  Confederacy. 

Among  all  the  cavalry  raids  of  the  war,  of  which  there  were  so 
many,  of  such  a  large  force,  such  a  peculiar  organization,  with  such 
a  broad  arena,  and  which  developed  such  able  commanders  on  both 
sides,  Sheridan's  raid  around  Lee's  army  in  the  Wilderness  campaign, 
and  the  help  it  was  to  Grant,  was  the  most  important  as  well  as  the 
most  brilliant  of  any.  The  object  of  it  was,  as  stated  by  General 
Grant:  "  If  successfully  executed — and  it  was — he  would  annoy  the 
enemy  by  cutting  his  lines  of  supplies  and  telegraphic  communications, 
and  destroy  or  get  for  his  own  use  supplies  in  store  or  coming  up; 
would  draw  the  enemy's  cavalry  after  him,  and  thus  better  protect 
our  flanks,  rear  and  trains,  than  by  remaining  with  the  army;  and  his 
absence  would  save  the  trains  drawing  his  forage  and  other  supplies 
from  Fredericksburg,  which  had  now  become  our  base.  He  started 
at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  May,  just  after  the  battle  of 
the  Wilderness,  and  accomplished  more  than  was  expected.  It  was 
sixteen  days  before  he  got  back  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac."- 
["War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  116. 

"  The  '  fifteen  thousand'  paper  strength  of  the  corps,"  says  General 
Kodenbrough,  who  was  engaged  in  these  operations,  "was  sifted  to 
32.424  effectives.  There  were  three  divisions,  subdivided  into  seven 
brigades.  To  each  division  were  attached  two  batteries  of  horse 
artillery,  with  the  same  number  as  a  reserve.  The  command  was 
stripped  ctf  all  impediments,  such  as  unserviceable  animals,  wagons 
and  tents.  The  necessary  ammunition  train,  two  ambulances  to  a 
division,  a  few  pack  mules  for  baggage,  three-days'  rations,  and  a  half- 
day's  forage  carried  on  the  saddle  composed  the  outfit.  On  the  9th 
day  of  May,  1864,  at  6  A.  M.,  this  magnificent  body  of  10,000  horsemen 
moved  out  on  the  Telegraph  road  leading  from  Fredericksburg  to 
Richmond.  According  to  a  Southern  authority  it  took  four  hours  at 
a  brisk  pace  to  pass  a  given  point;  to  those  who  viewed  it  from 
behind  barred  windows  and  doors,  it  was  like  the  rush  of  a  mighty 
torrent."— ["War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  189. 

Passing  around  the  Confederate  army  by  the  southwest, 
late  in  the  afternoon  they  struck  the  Virginia  Central 
railroad,  and  at  an  opportune  moment,  for  there  were  two 

of  Winchester,  October  19,  which  has  become  as  graphic  in  picture  and  song— so 
familiar  as  "  Sheridan's  Ride  "—as  it  proved  important  to  the  success  of  the  war,  in 
shutting  off  inroads  from  that  quarter,  and  in  shutting  out  the  Confederacy  from 
that  storehouse  of  its  supplies. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  339 

trains  of  cars  carrying  wounded  and  prisoners  from  Spott- 
sylvania,  just  ready  to  start  for  Richmond.  In  a  moment 
378  Union  captives  rent  the  air  with  cheers  for  their  deliver 
ance,  while  the  troops,  after  reserving  what  they  needed, 
set  fire  to  the  trains  and  buildings  with  a  million  and  a  half 
of  rations  and  supplies  for  Lee's  army.  The  railroad  track 
and  telegraph  were  destroyed  through  the  night  for  some 
distance,  when  by  morning  Stewart  with  his  cavalry  force 
was  upon  them,  skirmishing  with  them  briskly  and  attack 
ing  them  with  vigor,  and  our  troops  pushed  on  across  the 
South  Anna,  defeating  the  enemy's  cavalry  after  a  severe 
encounter,  and  destroying  culverts,  trestle  bridges  and  six 
miles  of  track.  On  the  fourth  day  they  encountered  Stuart 
with  his  main  body  of  cavalry,  where  a  "  determined  stand 
was  made  for  the  right  of  way  to  the  Confederate  capital, 
distant  only  six  miles."  Here  is  where  General  Stuart  fell, 
who  had  been  to  General  Lee  thus  far  in  his  most  important 
operations,  what  Sheridan  was  becoming  to  General  Grant, 
and  was  greatly  bemourned,  not  only  for  the  loss  of  his 
military  ability,  but  also  for  his  personal  worth.  General 
Rodenbrough,  who  was  one  of  Sherman's  officers  and 
engaged  in  this  expedition  with  the  magnanimity  of  a  true 
soldier,  pays  this  generous  tribute  to  his  opponent :  "  Deep 
in  the  hearts  of  all  true  cavalrymen,  North  and  South,  will 
ever  burn  a  sentiment  of  admiration  mingled  with  regret 
for  this  knightly  soldier  and  generous  man." 

From  this  point  the  expedition  pressed  on  with  the  utmost 
vigor  until  it  was  within  the  outer  defenses  of  the  city. 
Here  it  was  betrayed  into  an  ambush  from  which  it  escaped 
with  difficulty.  Then  it  took  the  wrong  road,  from  which  it 
had  to  be  recalled.  Next  they  had  a  struggle  for  a  bridge  as 
their  only  escape,  and  with  an  unknown  force.  "  This,"  as 
they  said,  "  was  the  tightest  place  we  ever  got  into."  Just 
then  Sheridan,  with  his  quick  invention  and  inspiring  pres 
ence,  appeared  on  the  scene.  "  Pushed  hard,  are  ye  !  What 


340  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

do  you  suppose  we  have  in  front  of  us  ?  A  lot  of  depart 
ment  clerks  from  Richmond,  who  have  been  forced  into  the 
ranks.  I  could  capture  Richmond,  if  I  wanted,  but  I  can't 
hold  it,  and  the  prisoners  tell  me  that  every  house  in  the 
suburbs  is  loopholed  and  the  streets  barricaded.  It  isn't 
worth  the  men  it  would  cost,  but  I'll  stay  all  day  to  show 
these  fellows  how  much  I  care  for  them,  and  go  when  I  get 
ready.  Send  for  your  caissons  and  take  it  easy."  The 
enemy  had  torn  up  the  bridge,  and  were  in  same  force  on 
the  opposite  bank.  Merritt  dismounted  all  but  three  regi 
ments  to  repair  the  bridge.  Ouster  charged  his  men  over 
the  railroad  bridge  to  cover  the  reconstruction.  As  soon 
as  the  flooring  was  down,  the  mounted  force  under  Colonel 
Gibbs  crossed.  Gregg  and  Wilson  covered  the  crossing  of 
the  ammunition  and  ambulance  trains,  and  after  a  brisk 
affair  with  a  brigade  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  the  raiders 
were  well  out  of  their  net,  and  on  their  way  to  our  army 
under  Butler,  whence  after  the  briefest  rest  and  much- 
needed  supplies  were  procured,  they  set  off  to  find  Grant. 
After  a  forty-hours'  night  march  they  found  him  on  the 
morning  of  the  25th,  having  successfully  performed  their 
allotted  task.  "  They  had  deprived  Lee's  army  for  the  time 
being  of  its  '  eyes  and  ears ' — or  means  of  obtaining  informa 
tion  of  the  enemy — damaged  his  communications,  destroyed 
an  immense  quantity  of  supplies,  deprived  them  of  their 
great  cavalry  leader,  secured  our  great  army  train  of  4,000 
wagons  from  annoyance,  saved  our  government  the  subsist 
ence  of  10,000  horses  and  men  for  three  weeks,  perfected 
the  morale  of  the  cavalry  corps,  and  produced  a  Amoral 
effect  of  incalculable  value  to  the  Union  cause.  Sheridan's 
casualties  on  the  raid  were  625  men  killed  or  wounded,  and 
300  horses." 

Whatever  it  gained,  this  Wilderness  campaign  plunged 
the  whole  nation,  South  as  well  as  North,  into  anguish 
such  as  it  never  knew  before  or  since.  The  loss  of  50,000 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  341 

men  on  one  side  by  death,  wounds  and  imprisonment,  and 
of  two-thirds  as  many  on  the  other,  reaching  as  far  as  a 
military  draft  could  reach  or  patriotism  extend,  was  sure 
to  spread  universal  and  the  deepest  sorrow.  It  was  like 
that  scene  described  in  vision  by  the  Prophet  Jeremiah, 
where  he  saw  his  people  carried  away  into  their  Babylonian 
captivity,  and  beheld  their  old  ancestress  standing  by  the 
roadside  as  they  passed,  and  wringing  her  hands  in  hope 
less  despair  :  "  A  voice  was  heard  in  Rama,  lamentation 
and  bitter  weeping;  Rachael  weeping  for  her  children 
refused  to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  because  they 
were  not." 

That  was  a  heavy  price  paid  for  the  reformation  and 
recovery  of  God's  people.  And  while  ours  seemed  at  the 
time  too  heavy  a  cost  for  almost  any  blessings,  we  are  fast 
coming  to  think  differently  of  it,  and  to  regard  the  restora 
tion  of  our  Union,  the  reorganization  of  our  Republic,  the 
recovery  of  equal  rights  for  all  men,  and  the  re-establish 
ment  of  successful  self-government  in  both  Church  and 
State,  for  the  imitation  of  mankind  in  all  future  time,  as 
worth  it  all,  as  so  many  martyrs  have  done  ;  for  the  glory 
of  God,  and  the  welfare  of  our  fellow-men. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

SHERMAN'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  GEORGIA. 

The  Capture  of  Atlanta  and  Removal  of  the  Inhabitants — Preparing 
for  the  March  to  the  Sea— Capture  of  Savannah. 

When  General  Grant,  now  lieutenant  general  of  all  the 
armies,  set  out  for  Richmond  early  in  May,  1864,  General 
Sherman  started  the  same  day  on  his  march  through 
Georgia.  Both  expeditions  were  parts  of  the  same  plan. 
Never  were  commanders  more  fully  possessed  of  each  other's 
confidence,  or  more  generous  toward  each  other's  fame, 
than  these.  Instead  of  the  jealousies  and  bickerings  which 
had  existed  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  want  of 
harmony  between  the  commander-in-chief  and  the  War 
Department,  and  the  disposition  of  the  government  to  carry 
on  a  campaign  in  its  details  a  thousand  miles  away  from 
the  war  office,  there  was  now  to  be  confidence  and  co-opera 
tion,  and  a  generous  regard  for  each  others  fame,  as  well  as 
superb  military  ability  and  the  noblest  patriotism.  General 
Grant  says  :— 

In  my  first  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln  alone,  he  stated  to  me  that 
he  had  never  professed  to  be  a  military  man,  or  to  know  how  cam 
paigns  should  be  conducted,  and  never  wanted  to  interfere  in  them; 
but  that  procrastination  on  the  part  of  commanders,  and  the  pressure 
from  the  people  at  the  North  and  from  Congress,  which  was  always 
with  him,  forced  him  into  issuing  his  "  Military  Orders."  He  did  not 
know  that  they  were  not  all  wrong,  and  did  know  that  some  of  them 
were.  All  he  wanted,  or  had  ever  wanted,  was  some  one  who  would 
take  the  responsibility  and  act,  and  call  on  him  for  assistance  needed; 
he  would  pledge  himself  to  use  all  the  power  of  the  government  in 
rendering  such  assistance.  Assuring  him  that  I  would  do  the  best  I 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  S4B 

could  with  the  means  at  hand,  and  avoid  as  far  as  possible  annoying 
him  or  the  War  Department,  our  first  interview  ended. — ["War 
Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  100. 

General  Sherman  also  says  :— 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  wisest  man  of  our  day,  and  more  truly  and 
kindly  gave  voice  to  my  secret  thoughts  and  feelings,  when  he  wrote 
me  at  Savannah  from  Washington,  under  date  of  December  26,  1864: 
41  When  you  were  about  leaving  Atlanta  for  the  Atlantic  coast,  I  was 
anxious,  if  not  fearful;  but  feeling  that  you  were  the  better  judge, 
and  remembering  'nothing  risked,  nothing  gained,'  I  did  not  inter 
fere.  Now  the  undertaking  being  a  success,  the  honor  is  all  yours, 
for  I  believe  that  none  of  us  went  further  than  to  acquiesce,  and 
taking  the  work  of  General  Thomas  into  account,  as  it  should  be 
taken,  it  is  indeed  a  great  success.  Not  only  does  it  afford  the  ob 
vious  and  immediate  advantages,  but  in  showing  to  the  world  that 
your  army  could  be  divided,  putting  the  stronger  part  to  an  impor 
tant  new  service,  and  yet  leaving  enough  to  vanquish  the  old  opposing 
force  of  the  whole,  Hood's  army,  it  brings  those  who  sat  in  darkness 
to  see  a  great  light.  But  what  next  ?  I  suppose  it  will  be  safer  if  I 
leave  General  Grant  and  yourself  to  decide." — ["  War  Book,"  />.  2oO. 

General  Sherman,  in  his  u  Introduction  to  the  Atlantic 
Expedition,"  pays  this  noble  tribute  to  General  Grant,  and 
in  the  disclosure  it  makes  of  his  own  interesting  traits  of 
character  and  noble  sentiments,  wins  as  much  respect  tor 
himself  as  to  his  commander. 

I  now  turn  with  a  feeling  of  extreme  delicacy  to  the  conduct  of  that 
other  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  Savannah  and  Raleigh, 
which  with  liberal  discretion  was  committed  to  me  by  General  Grant 
in  his  minute  instructions  of  April  4  and  April  19,  1864.  To  all  mili 
tary  students  these  letters  must  be  familiar,  because  they  have  been 
published  again  and  again,  and  there  never  was  and  never  can  be  a 
question  of  rivalry,  or  claim  between  us  as  to  the  relative  merits  of 
the  manner  in  which  we  played  our  respective  parts.  We  were  as 
brothers;  I  the  older  man  in  years,  he  the  higher  in  rank.  We  both 
believed  in  our  heart  of  hearts  that  the  success  of  the  Union  cause  was 
not  only  necessary  to  the  then  generation  of  Americans,  but  to  all 
future  generations.  We  both  professed  to  be  gentlemen  and  pro 
fessional  soldiers,  educated  in  the  science  of  war  by  our  generous  gov 
ernment  for  the  very  occasion  which  had  arisen.  Neither  of  us  by 
nature  was  a  combative  man,  but  with  homes,  hearts,  and  a  clear  pur 
pose  to  do  what  man  could,  we  embarked  on  that  campaign,  which  I 


344  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

believe,  in  its  strategy,  in  its  logistics,  in  its  grand  and  minor  tactics, 
has  added  new  luster  to  the  old  science  of  war.  Both  of  us  had  at  our 
front  generals  to  whom  in  early  life  we  had  been  accustomed  to  look 
up;  educated  and  experienced  soldiers  like  ourselves,  not  likely  to 
make  any  mistakes,  and  each  of  whom  had  as  strong  an  army  as  could 
be  collected  from  the  mass  of  the  Southern  people;  of  the  same  blood 
as  ourselves,  brave,  confident,  and  well  equipped;  in  addition  to 
which  they  had  the  most  decided  advantage  of  operating  in  their  own 
difficult  country  of  mountain,  forest,  ravine  and  river,  affording  ad. 
inirable  opportunities  for  defense,  besides  the  other  equally  impor 
tant  advantage,  that  we  had  to  invade  our  unqualified  enemy  and 
expose  our  long  line  of  supplies  to  the  guerrillas  of  an  "  exasperated 
people."  Again,  as  we  advanced,  we  had  to  leave  guards  to  bridges, 
stations  and  intermediate  depots,  diminishing  the  fighting  force, 
while  our  enemy  gained  strength  by  picking  up  his  detachments  as 
lie  fell  back,  and  had  railroads  to  bring  supplies  and  re-enforcements 
from  his  rear.  I  instance  these  facts  to  offset  the  common  assertion, 
that  we  of  the  North  won  the  war  by  brute  force,  and  not  by  courage 
and  skill.— ["War  Book,"  p.  250. 

Sherman  started  from  Chattanooga,  which  is  on  the 
southern  border  of  Tennessee  (the  Confederate  forces  having 
already  been  driven  out  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
also  out  of  Mississippi,  along  down  the  river  so  far  as 
Vicksburg  and  New  Orleans), for  Atlanta, the  "Gate  City" 
of  the  South.  It  opened  into  the  interior  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  and  was  the  center  of  all  the  important  southern 
lines  of  railroad,  reaching  not  only  back  to  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky  and  into  Western  Virginia,  but  stretching  also 
along  the  Gulf  States,  and  up  through  South  and  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia  to  the  Confederate  capital  at  Rich 
mond.  It  was  along  these  railroads  that  the  Confederate 
government  transferred  its  troops  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Richmond  to  Atlanta  and  Chattanooga,  and  furnished  them 
with  supplies  and  the  munitions  of  war.  To  secure  and 
hold  that  city,  was  to  fatally  cripple  the  operations  of  the 
Confederacy.  And  though  a  difficult  and  doubtful  under- 
taking,  to  which  the  government  slowly  and  reluctantly 
gave  its  assent,  it  proved  more  effective  than  could  have 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

been  expected  in  terminating  the  war.  Atlanta  was  120 
miles  from  Chattanooga,  with  only  a  single  railroad  track 
running  through  a  mountainous  and  hostile  country,  which 
was  liable  to  be  broken  up  at  any  time,  and  must  be  repaired 
and  guarded  again  before  Sherman's  army  could  be  sure  of 
subsistence  for  a  week.  Even  then  he  was  so  dependent 
for  many  of  his  supplies  upon  Louisville,  500  miles  distant, 
that  every  mile  he  moved  farther  from  his  supplies  he 
increased  his  risk  and  diminished  his  force,  for  he  must 
repair  every  mile  of  broken  railroad  behind  him  and  leave 
-a  sufficient  guard  to  protect  it.  He  was  also  in  a  strange 
and  hostile  country,  where  he  was  liable  to  encounter  at 
any  time  some  strongly  fortified  position,  and  where  the 
people  were  "  peaceable  citizens  by  day  and  guerrillas  by 
night."  Besides,  such  cavalry  leaders  as  Wheeler  and 
Forest  were  always  on  their  line  of  march,  breaking  up 
their  communications  and  appropriating  their  supplies. 
Still  Sherman  had  confidence  in  reaching  and  holding 
Atlanta,  if  he  went  no  further.  And  there  was  this  under 
standing  between  him  and  Grant,  as  he  tells  us  :— 

That  had  General  Grant  overwhelmed  and  scattered  Lee's  army, 
and  occupied  Richmond,  he  would  have  come  to  Atlanta;  but  as  I 
happened  to  occupy  Atlanta  first,  and  had  driven  Hood  off  to  a 
divergent  line  of  operations  far  to  the  west,  it  was  good  strategy  to 
leave  him  to  a  subordinate  force,  and  with  my  main  force  join  Grant 
.at  Richmond.— ["War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  P-  25o. 

General  Sherman  set  out  for  Atlanta  on  the  4th  of  May, 
1864,  with  a  well-appointed  army  of  100,000  men.  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  the  Confederate  commander  whom 
he  was  to  encounter,  probably  had  only  about  half  that 
number.*  But  he  was  one  whom  General  Sherman  regarded 


*  General  Sherman  says:  "Coincident  with  the  movement  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  as  announced  by  telegraph,  I  advanced  from  our  base  at  Chattanooga, 
with  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  13,550 ;  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  60,773,  and  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  24,4(55 ;  a  total  of  98,797,  :-.nd  254  pieces  of  artillery."— ["  War 
Mook,"  Vol.  IV, p.  252. 


346  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

"  as  equal  in  all  the  elements  of  generalship  to  Lee,"  and 
of  whom  he  said  :  "  No  officer  or  soldier  who  served  under 
me  will  question  his  generalship.  His  retreats  were  timely,, 
in  good  order,  and  he  left  nothing  behind."  His  knowledge 
of  the  country  which  he  was  called  upon  to  defend,  the  sympa 
thy  and  co-operation  of  the  people  among  whom  he  was  to- 
carry  on  his  operations,  the  peculiar  capabilities  of  that 
region  for  military  defense,  and  the  series  of  remarkably  well- 
selected  and  skillfully  constructed  fortifications  which  he  had 
prepared  against  such  an  invasion,  do  him  credit,  and  with 
any  considerable  force  ought  perhaps  to  have  made  Sherman's 
progress  more  difficult  than  it  proved.  But  the  expedition 
to  Atlanta,  and  capture  of  Savannah,  and  march  through 
the  Gulf  States  and  up  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  until  he 
could  leave  his  army  long  enough  to  run  up  by  sea  from 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,  to  City  Point,  and  confer  with  Grant 
and  the  President,  and  then  return  in  time  to  receive  the 
surrender  of  his  old  opponent,  just  after  Lee  had  surren 
dered  to  Grant — this  must  forever  make  that  campaign  the 
most  difficult,  the  most  successful,  and  certainly  the  most 
romantic  of  anything  in  our  war.  "  I  feel,"  writes  Grant 
to  Sherman, "  that  you  have  accomplished  the  most  gigantic 
undertaking  given  to  any  general  in  the  war,  with  a  skill 
that  will  be  acknowledged  in  history  as  unsurpassed,  if  not 
unequaled."  And  Halleck  writes :  "  I  do  not  hesitate  to- 
say,  that  your  campaign  has  been  the  most  brilliant  of 
this  war." 

Look   at  the  country  through  which  this  campaign  was 


General  Johnston,  in  his  article  in  the  "  War  Book,"  p.  260,  gives  the  strength  of 
the  Confederate  army  as  only  43,000,  37,652  infantry,  2,812  artillery  with  112  guns 
and  2,393  cavalry,  a  total  of  42,857.  The  "  War  Book  "  gives  another  estimate, 
taken  from  the  files  of  the  Confederate  War  Department,  which  brings  it  up  to 
84,000  a  little  later.  General  Johnston's  statement  must  have  had  reference  to  his 
army  after  its  hard  fighting  and  severe  defeat  at  Chattanooga,  and  before  it  was- 
prepared  for  this  campaign.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  not  much  more  than  half  as 
large  as  Sherman's,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  the  South  did  not  make  it  larger, 
and  that,  with  his  rare  field  for  operation  and  defense,  he  should  not  have  caused, 
an  invader  more  trouble. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  34T 

conducted.  That  of  the  Wilderness  was  bad  enough  for 
an  invader,  as  McClellan  and  Grant  found  it,  with  its  for 
ests,  ridges,  ravines  and  swamps,  but  it  was  limited  to  the 
Peninsula,  and  a  single  corner  of  Virginia,  while  this 
stretched  away  from  Lookout  mountain,  the  scene  of 
Hooker's  fame,  to  the  top  of  Kenesaw,  from  which  John 
ston  looked  down  so  severely  at  first  upon  Sherman's 
approach ;  and  through  such  canons  as  Buzzard  Roost  and 
Snake  Creek  Gap,  to  Altoona  Pass,  where  it  seemed  as  if 
a  few  hundred  men  could  obstruct  the  passage  of  a  host. 
These  positions,  well  fortified  in  advance,  and  with  roads 
opened  to  still  others  in  the  rear,  who  could  be  confident 
that  at  some  one  of  them  he  would  not  be  arrested,  and 
meet  the  fate  of  rashness  ?  How  could  he  presume  that  he 
would  make  no  mistakes,  incur  no  inevitable  interruption 
of  his  plan,  encounter  no  absolute  defeat  ?  General  Sher 
man  was  certainly  not  so  presumptuous,  only  proposing  to 
accept  his  defeats,  correct  his  mistakes,  and  what  he  could 
not  accomplish  in  one  way,  hope  to  accomplish  in  another. 
Indeed,  his  successful  campaign  to  Atlanta  was  to  be  his 
warrant  for  cutting  loose  there  from  everything  behind 
him,  and  beginning  his  "  twelve-hundred  mile  march  to  the 
sea."  And  it  was  not  until  then  that  he  proposed  it,  or 
that  Grant  would  have  given  his  assent  to  such  an  other 
wise  chimerical  undertaking.  True,  he  had  the  great  West 
behind  him,  with  its  unstinted  supply  of  men  and  means. 
He  had  the  confidence  of  the  President  and  of  his  cabinet, 
such  as  no  one  before  him  had  possessed  more  fully.  And 
he  certainly  was  as  well  assured  of  the  respect,  friendship 
and  co-operation  of  General  Grant  as  he  need  to  have  been 
in  the  most  hazardous  enterprise.  But  after  all,  the  suc 
cess  of  a  campaign  of  such  magnitude  and  peril,  his  careful 
planning,  its  vigorous  execution,  his  quickness  to  detect  and 
remedy  a  mistake;  the  spirit  with  which  he  inspired  his 
army,  and  their  ceaseless  "  tramp,  tramp  "  through  all  those 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Southern  States  and  quite  up  the  Atlantic  coast,  are  still 
the  reverberations,  and  ever  will  be,  of  a  history  replete 
with  great  men  and  noble  achievements. 

The  plan  of  General  Sherman's  campaign  was  essentially 
that  of  General  Grant,  a  series  of  flank  movements  ;  mov 
ing  around  an  enemy's  position,  when  he  could  not  be  driven 
from  it  by  assault,  and  compelling  him  to  fall  back  to  pro 
tect  his  communications  in  the  rear ;  only  there  were  to  be 
more  of  them,  made  among  the  mountains  where  defense 
was  easier,  and  all  the  more  critical  when  the  invader  was 
liable  to  have  his  own  communication  broken  up,  and  be 
left  stranded  far  from  either  reinforcements,  or  even  food. 
This  is  what  made  the  Atlanta  expedition  so  difficult  and 
so  delicate,  and  when  accomplished,  justified  the  faith  of 
Sherman's  friends,  that  he  might  be  trusted  to  go  anywhere 
he  pleased  over  the  South,  and  report  himself  at  a  given  time 
in  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  and  arrange  with  Grant 
the  surrender  of  the  other  Confederate  army,  and  settle  for 
ever  the  fate  of  the  Confederacy. 

Sherman's  first  advance  from  Chattanooga  was  upon 
Dalton.  He  made  no  direct  assault,  but  only  a  feint,  dur 
ing  which  his  main  army  executed  a  flanking  movement, 
which  compelled  Johnston  to  fall  back  to  his  next  strong 
hold,  Resaca.  Here  there  was  more  fighting,  and  a  repeti 
tion  of  the  same  tactics,  until  Johnston,  whose  army  had 
now  been  considerably  increased,  took  an  impregnable  posi 
tion  in  the  Altoona  mountains.  Here  Sherman,  after  a 
few  days'  delay  to  prepare  supplies  for  twenty  days,  set  out 
on  the  25th  of  May  for  the  most  vigorous,  critical  and  suc 
cessful  part  of  his  advance  upon  Atlanta. 

The  next  two  months  there  was  constant  fighting.  The 
decisive  battle,  or  series  of  battles,  must  be  fought,  if  John 
ston  was  to  retain  that  gateway  of  the  South,  and  Sherman 
held  back  from  devastating  so  many  of  those  Southern  States, 
which  had  done  most  to  bring  on  the  war,  and  suffered 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  349 

least  from  its  ravages.  The  Confederacy  had  reinforced  its 
army  to  the  utmost,  and  its  commander  was  at  the  end  of 
his  defensive  policy,  for  he  was  just  occupying  his  last 
mountain  fastness,  "  the  famous  Kenesaw  position,"  with  a 
high  mountain  crest  for  his  main  works,  and  a  peak  at  each 
end  as  important  as  Little  Round  Top  and  Great  Round 
Top  were  to  the  defenses  of  Gettysburg. 

"  The  whole  line  was  stronger  in  artificial  contrivances  and  natural 
features  than  the  cemetery  of  Gettysburg,"  says  General  Howard, 
who  tried  them  both,  with  more  trouble  from  the  latter  than  the 
former.  "  We  closed  down  upon  him  in  this  position  and  in  battle 
array,"  says  General  Sherman,  "  repaired  the  railroad  up  to  our  very 
camps,  and  then  prepared  for  the  contest.  Not  a  day,  not  an  hour, 
not  a  minute  was  there  a  cessation  of  fire.  Our  skirmishers  were  in 
absolute  contact,  the  lines  of  battle  and  the  batteries  but  little  in  the 
rear  of  the  skirmishers,  and  thus  matters  continued  for  a  full  month, 
when  I  ordered  a  general  assault,  with  the  full  co-operation  of  my 
great  lieutenants,  Thomas,  McPherson  and  Schofield,  but  we  failed, 
losing  3,000  men,  to  the  Confederate  loss  of  630.  Still  the  result  was 
that  Johnston  abandoned  the  strongest  possible  position,  and  was  in 
full  retreat.  We  were  on  his  heels,  skirmished  with  his  rear  on  the 
4th  of  July  and  saw  him  fairly  across  the  Chattahoochee,  covered  and 
protected  by  the  best  line  of  field  entrenchments  I  have  ever  seen, 
prepared  long  in  advance.  We  had  advanced  into  the  enemy's  coun 
try  120  miles,  with  a  single  track  railroad,  which  had  to  bring  cloth 
ing,  food,  ammunition,  everything  requisite  for  100,000  men  and  20,000 
animals.  The  city  of  Atlanta,  the  gate  city,  opening  into  the  interior 
of  the  important  State  of  Georgia,  was  in  sight;  its  protecting  army 
was  shaken,  but  not  defeated,  and  onward  we  had  to  go,  illustrating 
the  principle  that  '  an  army  once  On  the  offensive,  must  maintain  the 
offensive.'  "— ["War  Book,"  Vol.  IF,  />.  253. 

At  this  time  the  Confederate  government,  dissatisfied 
with  the  Fabian  policy  of  Johnston,  relieved  him  and  substi 
tuted  General  Hood,  who  had  a  reputation  as  a  fighter. 
He  found  the  Confederate  army  reduced  and  dispirited. 
He,  however,  began  an  aggressive  and  venturesome  course. 
He  made  three  desperate  attacks  within  a  short  time  and 
did  great  damage,  but  was  at  last  convinced  that  Johnston 
had  not  erred  in  keeping  within  his  defenses.  He  found 


350  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

himself  forced  to  fall  back,  largely  because  only  in  that  way 
could  he  feel  sure  of  preventing  Sherman  from  releasing 
the  34,000  prisoners  then  at  Anderson ville.  He  himself 
gives  this  as  one  principal  reason  for  his  change  in  the 
conduct  of  the  campaign.  General  Hood,  however,  was 
soon  compelled  to  withdraw  within  the  defenses  of  Atlanta, 
which  was  then  invested  by  Sherman,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  those  defenses,  and  our 
army  took  possession  of  the  city  the  2d  of  September, 
1864. 

This  was  not  reaching  Sherman's  "  objective,"  which  he 
proposed  to  himself,  and  which  was  regarded  by  others  as 
his  special  part  to  perform,  to  annihilate  Johnston's  army 
and  desolate  the  Southern  States,  any  more  than  Grant's 
investment  of  Richmond  was  disposing  of  Lee  and  break 
ing  up  the  Confederacy.  Here  was  General  Sherman,  only 
120  miles  from  Chattanooga,  his  starting  point,  and  he  had 
spent  four  months  already  in  skillful  maneuvering  and 
constant  fighting,  and  had  lost  30,000  of  his  army.  How 
much  longer  will  it  take,  and  how  many  more  re-enforce 
ments  must  his  army  receive,  before  he  shall  have  accom 
plished  his  part  of  his  agreement  with  Grant,  to  meet  him 
somewhere  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  divide  the  glory  of 
having  crushed  the  Confederacy  between  theni  ?  He  might 
perhaps  reach  Savannah,  300  miles  distant  from  Atlanta, 
or  Charleston,  just  about  as  far  away.  But  with  all  the 
resources  of  that  great  State  of  Georgia,  and  what  might  be 
gathered  from  the  half-dozen  other  Gulf  States,  together 
with  those  of  South  and  North  Carolina,  still  under  such 
able  military  control  as  Johnston's  and  Hardee's,  was  it  any 
thing  less  than  presumption  to  cherish  and  persist  in  that 
"March  to  the  Sea"?  The  government  was  willing  he 
should  move  upon  Savannah,  and  was  prepared  to  meet  him 
there  with  a  sufficient  fleet  of  war  vessels  and  transport  to 
help  open  that  harbor,  and  then  transport  him  and  his 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  351 

whole  army  up  the  Atlantic  coast,  to  aid  Grant  in  reducing 
Richmond.  This  was  all  the  government  dared  hope  for, 
and  even  General  Grant  was  not  willing  as  yet  to  encourage 
the  dream  of  his  friend.  Indeed,  General  Rawlins,  his  own 
able  and  trusted  chief  of  staff,  regarded  it  as  so  unwise  and 
hazardous,  that  he  left  General  Grant's  headquarters  and 
went  up  to  Washington,  to  dissuade  the  War  Department 
from  sanctioning  such  a  project. 

But  General  Sherman  had  so  far  been  successful  in  his 
plans,  and  if  Grant  would  allow  it,  and  the  government 
would  not  interfere,  he  had,  as  he  thought,  reasonable 
expectations  of  complete  success.  So  his  next  step  was  to 
fortify  Atlanta,  hold  this  key  to  the  whole  railroad  system 
of  the  South,  confiscate  the  military  stores  and  any  supplies 
of  the  Confederate  government  collected  there,  and  destroy 
all  the  manufactories  upon  which  their  armies  were  so 
dependent.  This  was  effectually  done. 

He  ordered  the  people  of  the  city  to  remove  from  it, 
offered  to  transport  them  all,  with  clothing  and  furniture,  to 
any  designated  point,  and  did  thus  remove  2,000  of  them. 
General  Hood  protested  against  this  order  as  an  "  unprec 
edented  measure,"  which  "  transcends  in  studied  and  in 
genious  cruelty  all  acts  ever  brought  to  my  attention  in  the 
dark  history  of  war."  He  appealed  to  General  Sherman  to 
revoke  the  order.  The  latter  replied  that  he  had  to  pre 
pare  for  a  future  struggle  in  which  millions  of  people  out 
side  of  Atlanta  were  deeply  interested,  that  it  was  essential 
to  establish  peace  by  defeating  the  rebel  armies,  and  that 
his  military  plans  made  it  necessary  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Atlanta  to  go  away.  He  repeated  his  offer  to  provide  trans 
portation.  Then  he  went  on  to  say  :— 

War  is  cruelty,  and  you  cannot  refine  it.  Those  who  brought  war 
on  our  country  deserve  all  the  curses  and  maledictions  a  people  can 
pour  out.  I  had  no  hand  in  making  this  war,  and  I  will  make  more 
sacrifices  to-day  than  any  of  you  to  secure  peace.  But  you  cannot 


352  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

have  peace,  and  a  division  of  the  country.  We  don't  want  yonr 
negroes,  or  your  houses,  or  your  laud,  or  anything  that  you  have,  but 
we  do  want,  and  will  have,  a  just  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States.  That  we  will  have,  and  if  it  involves  the  destruction  of  your 
improvements  we  cannot  help  it. 

You  have  heretofore  read  public  sentiment  in  your  newspapers. 
They  live  by  falsehood  and  excitement,  and  the  quicker  you  seek  for 
truth  in  other  quarters,  the  better  for  you.  You  began  this  war  with 
out  one  jot  or  tittle  of  provocation.  I  myself  have  seen  in  Missouri, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
women  and  children,  fleeing  from  your  own  armies  and  desperadoes, 
hungry  and  with  bleeding  feet.  In  Memphis,  Vicksburg  and  Missouri 
we  fed  thousands  upon  thousands  of  your  families  of  rebel  soldiers 
left  on  our  hands,  and  whom  we  could  not  see  starve.  Now  that  war 
comes  to  you,  you  feel  very  differently;  you  deprecate  its  horrors. 
But  you  did  not  feel  them  when  you  were  sending  carloads  of  soldiers 
and  ammunition,  and  were  molding  shells  and  shot  to  carry  war  into 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  desolate  the  homes  of  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  good  people,  who  only  asked  to  live  in  peace  at  their 
old  homes,  and  under  the  government  of  their  inheritance. 

But  when  peace  does  come,  you  may  call  upon  me  for  anything. 
Then  I  will  share  with  you  the  last  cracker,  and  watch  with  you  to 
guard  your  homes  and  families  against  danger  from  any  quarter. 
Now  you  must  go,  and  take  with  you  the  old  and  feeble,  feed  and 
nurse  them,  and  build  for  them,  in  more  quiet  places,  habitations  to 
shield  them  against  the  weather,  until  the  mad  passions  of  men  cool 
down  and  allow  the  Union  and  peace  once  more  to  settle  on  your  old 
homes  in  Atlanta.— [Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  306. 

Sherman  was  now  in  possession  of  Atlanta,  and  it  was 
well  fortified  and  supplied  with  all  that  his  army  needed. 
But  he  could  not  march  for  the  sea,  leaving  Hood  in  his 
rear.  He  held  the  city  and  turned  back  to  look  after  Hood, 
fighting  him  during  the  autumn  on  many  of  the  recent  bat 
tle  grounds.  After  a  time  Hood  began  to  make  his  way 
North,  intending  to  invade  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and 
draw  Sherman  away  from  the  campaign  he  had  planned. 
During  this  movement  occurred  the  famous  holding  of  Al- 
toona  Pass,  by  General  Corse,  which  brought  him  the  brevet 
of  major  general.  His  ear  and  cheek  bone  were  shot  away 
during  the  engagement,  but  he  continued  to  direct  his  men 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  353 

until  the  relieving  force  arrived.*  Hood  continued  his 
march  North,  getting  further  and  further  from  Atlanta, 
until  he  reached  Nashville,  300  miles  from  that  city.  Then 
Sherman  sent  two  divisions  of  his  army  to  reinforce  Thomas, 
who  was  in  command  at  Nashville,  and  believing  that  suffi 
cient  occupation  had  been  found  there  for  Hood,  turned  to 
his  plan  for  a  march  to  the  sea.  He  communicates  his 
plans  in  detail  to  Thomas,  and  to  each  of  his  corps  com 
manders.  He  sent  back  his  surplus  artillery,  needless 
baggage  and  supplies,  the  sick,  wounded  and  refugees,  to 
Chattanooga.  He  withdrew  the  garrisons  which  he  had 
left  between  himself  and  Chattanooga,  and  sent  them  back 
there  with  whatever  of  public  property,  or  railroad  stock, 
could  be  saved  from  the  general  destruction.  Even  when 
the  railroads  were  broken  up  for  long  distances,  as  from 

*  General  Howard,  who  was  with  General  Sherman  at  the  time,  and  in  command 
of  the  leading  division  of  his  army,  gives  this  correspondence  between  the  Con 
federate  commander  and  General  Corse  :— 

"ALTOONA,  October  5,  1864. 
*'  COMMANDING  OFFICER  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FORCES: 

"  SIR  : — I  have  placed  the  forces  under  my  command  in  such  positions  that  you  are 
compelled  to  surrender,  and  to  avoid  a  needless  effusion  of  blood,  I  call  upon  you 
to  surrender  your  forces  at  once  and  unconditionally.  Five  minutes  will  be  allowed 
you  to  decide.  Should  you  accede  to  this,  you  will  be  treated  in  the  most  honorable 
manner  as  prisoners  of  war.  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Very  respectfully  yours, 
"  S.  G.  FRENCH,  Major  General  Commanding  Forces,  Confederate  States." 

To  which  came  the  following  reply  : — 
"*'  MAJOR  GENERAL  S.  G.  FRENCH,  CONFEDERATE  STATES  ARMY: 

"  Your  communication,  demanding  surrender  of  my  command,  I  acknowledge 
receipt  of,  and  respectfully  reply,  that  we  are  prepared  for  the  "•  needless  effusion 
of  blood  "  whenever  it  is  agreeable  to  you. 

"  I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 
"  JOHN  M.  CORSE,  Brigadier  General  Commanding  Forces,  United  States." 

Here  originated  the  popular  Sunday-school  hymn  and  music  of  "Hold  the  Fort." 
And  General  Sherman  tells  us  of  his  anxiety  and  relief,  during  that  battle,  as  he 
watched  it,  fifteen  miles  away,  from  the  top  of  Kenesaw  mountain,  on  "  a  beautiful 
day,  and  with  a  superb  view  of  the  vast  panorama  to  the  north  and  west,"  and 
tried  in  vain  all  day  to  get  some  news  of  the  result.  The  telegraph  wires  had  been 
cut,  and  he  signaled  from  Kenesaw  to  Altoona,  over  the  heads  of  the  enemy,  and 
could  get  no  reply.  "  But  while  I  was  with  him  the  signal  officer  caught  a  faint 
glimpse  of  the  tell-tale  flag  through  an  embrasure  of  the  works,  and  after  much 
time  he  made  out  these  letters:  'C.  R.  S.  E.  H.  E.  R.,'  which  meant,  'Corse  is 
here,'  and  was  a  source  of  great  relief,  as  giving  me  the  first  assurance  that  Corse 
had  received  his  orders,  and  that  the  place  was  adequately  garrisoned." 


354  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Resaca  back,  the  rails  were  saved  to  be  relaid  wherever  they 
might  be  needed.  Atlanta  had  to  be  destroyed,  for  it  must 
be  abandoned,  and  had  too  many  advantages  for  defense  to 
be  left  with  any  additional  ones  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
He  telegraphed  to  Grant:  " If  I  turn  back,  the  whole  effect 
of  my  campaign  will  be  lost.  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  best  results  will  follow  my  contemplated  movement 
through  Georgia."  To  which  Grant  replied:  "With  the 
force  you  have  left  with  General  Thomas,  he  must  be  able 
to  take  care  of  Hood  and  destroy  him.  I  really  do  not  see 
that  you  can  withdraw  from  where  you  are  to  follow  Hood, 
without  giving  up  all  you  have  gained  in  territory.  I  say 
then,  go  on  as  you  propose."  His  very  last  message  was  to 
Thomas:  "All  is  well!"  Then  the  telegraph  was  cut, 
and  supplies  for  his  army  abandoned,  and  he  set  out  to 
march  through  so  many  of  those  intensely  humiliated  and 
embittered  Southern  States.  Sherman  was  now  to  cut 
loose  from  all  his  connections  in  the  rear  and  be  completely 
lost  to  the  North  for  the  next  six  weeks,  except  for  what 
could  be  gleaned  from  the  rebel  newspapers.  In  view  of 
the  character  of  this  great  undertaking,  it  is  worth  while  to 
notice  the  orders  that  were  given  in  advance  for  its  general 
conduct.  The  troops  were  to  take  only  twenty  or  forty 
subsistences,  and  were  expected  to  live  on  the  country. 
They  were  to  have  organized  companies  to  scour  the 
country  for  the  breadth  of  thirty  miles,  and  gather  horses, 
mules,  wagons,  food  and  forage,  but  were  to  "  endeavor  to 
leave  with  each  family  a  reasonable  portion  for  its  main 
tenance."  Manufactories,  depots  and  cotton  gins  were  to 
be  destroyed,  but  only  on  order  of  a  commander.  Forag 
ing  parties  were  to  abstain  from  abusive  and  threatening 
language,  and  soldiers  were  forbidden  to  enter  houses. 

The  army,  as  it  began  its  march  on  the  morning  of  the 
16th  of  November,  was  made  up  of  "  four  corps,  of  an  aggre 
gate  strength  of  60,000  infantry,  one  cavalry  division  of 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  355 

5,500,  and  the  artillery  reduced  to  a  minimum,  one  gun  per 
thousand  men."  It  was  divided  into  two  armies  —  the 
right  wing,  or  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  the  left  wing, 
the  Army  of  Georgia,  the  former  under  General  Slocum,  to 
follow  the  railroad  toward  Augusta,  and  the  latter  under 
General  Howard,  along  the  Macon  road.  These  two  lines 
connect  Atlanta  with  the  sea,  the  former  terminating  by 
the  way  of  Augusta  at  Charleston,  300  miles  away,  and  the 
latter  at  Savannah,  about  the  same  distance,  by  the  way  of 
the  Central  Georgia  road,  and  connecting  Macon  with  this 
point.  These  two  main  lines  of  railroad  were  connected  by 
a  crossroad  from  Augusta  to  Miller,  fifty  miles  apart.* 
The  two  armies,  consisting  of  two  divisions  each,  kept  near 
the  two  lines  of  railroad  running  east,  so  that  the  one  could 
threaten  Augusta,  and  the  other  either  Savannah  or  Charles 
ton,  and  so  distract  and  divide  the  Confederate  forces,  that 
no  sufficient  force  could  be  concentrated  at  any  point  to 
resist  them.  This  plan  was  most  successfully  used,  when 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  threatening  Columbia,  and 
the  Army  of  Georgia  invested  Savannah.  These  two  armies 
kept  about  thirty  miles  apart,  marching  fifteen  miles  a  day, 
with  each  column  masked  in  all  directions  by  such  a  cloud 
of  skirmishers,  that  little  could  be  known  of  the  direction 
of  their  march,  or  what  was  taking  place  within  those 
living  walls  of  a  conquering  army.  But  whatever  else  was 
or  was  not  taking  place,  under  the  orders  and  arrangement 
of  the  expedition,  the  soldiers  were  expected  to  live  upon 
the  country,  and  all  public  property  or  manufactories  that 
would  help  the  Confederacy  carry  on  the  war,  were  to  be 

*  All  the  troops  were  provided  with  wagon  trains  loaded  with  ammunition  and  sup 
plies  of  about  twenty  days'  bread ,  forty  days'  sugar  and  coffee,  a  double  allo  wanes  of 
salt  for  forty  days,  and  beef  cattle  equal  to  forty  days.  The  wagons  also  carried  about 
three  days'  forage  in  grain.  The  troops  were  instructed,  by  a  judicious  system  of 
foraging,  to  maintain  this.state  of  things  as  long  as  possible,  living  upon  the  coun 
try,  which  abounds  in  corn,  sweet  potatoes,  and  meat.  In  a  continuous  line,  the- 
army  would  have  stretched  over  fifty  miles  ;  the  wagon  train  would  have  reached 
over  thirty  miles.  At  every  halt,  the  adjacent  fields  were  covered  with  horses,  mules 
and  cattle.  Not  much  was  left  in  the  rear. 


356  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

destroyed  or  confiscated.  The  railroads,  of  course,  must  be 
destroyed  behind  them,  and  so  effectually  destroyed  that  no 
use  could  be  made  of  the  burnt-up  ties  and  twisted  rails 
that  were  left.  Regular  organized  parties  of  "  Bummers," 
as  they  were  called — not  "  idle,  worthless  fellows,  with  no 
visible  means  of  support,"  as  they  used  to  be  regarded,  but 
the  most  enterprising,  daring,  successful  purveyors  for  the 
army  that  had  ever  been  invented — set  out  in  advance  of 
the  early  march,  who  pushed  off  for  miles  on  both  sides  of 
the  several  columns,  found  the  plantations  with  their  barns 
of  grain  and  fodder,  their  pigs  and  poultry,  their  sheep  and 
well-cured  bacon,  and  were  waiting  with  their  treasures  by 
the  roadside  as  the  trains  came  along  to  receive  them. 
They  were  men  who  could  do  such  work  when  required  of 
them,  and  guard  equally  well  the  plantation  honor  and 
family,  while  they  were  laid  under  such  contribution  for 
their  support.  These  were  the  men  whom  their  commander, 
who  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and  with  a  knightly  sensi 
tiveness  as  to  what  was  unbecoming  a  true  soldier,  com 
plimented  so  highly  for  their  deportment  on  this  very 
campaign.  "  The  behavior  of  our  troops  in  Savannah  has 
been  so  manly,  so  quiet,  so  perfect,  that  I  take  it  as  the  best 
evidence  of  discipline  and  true  courage.  Never  was  a 
hostile  city,  filled  with  women  and  children,  occupied  by  a 
large  army  with  less  disorder,  or  more  system,  order  and 
good  government." 

General  Sherman  marched  straight  upon  Savannah,  and 
before  General  Hardee,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Con 
federate  forces,  could  be  sure  of  his  destination,  he  had  so 
•divided  his  command  between  the  places  threatened  that 
they  were  utterly  unable  to  resist  any  concentrated  attack. 
He  took  the  city  after  a  siege,  and  this  was  all  that  had 
been  expected  of  him.  It  had  been  proposed  to  have  a 
fleet  meet  him  there  and  take  his  whole  army  to  Grant  at 
City  Point.  This  was  suggested  to  him  by  Grant  as  late 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  357 

as  December  6.    In  his  reply,  Sherman  said  he  had  intended 
to  proceed  to  Columbia,  S.  C.,  then  to  Raleigh,  and  then  to 
report  to  Grant.      A   little   later  he  wrote:  "Many  and 
many  a  person  in  Georgia  asked  me  why  I  did  not  go  to 
South  Carolina,  and  when  I  answered  that  I  was  en  route 
for  that  State,  the  invariable  reply  was :  '  Well,  if  you  will 
make  those  people  feel  the  utmost  severities  of  the  war,  we 
will  pardon  you  for  your  desolation  of  Georgia.' "     General 
Sherman  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  to  discern  the 
really  divided, exhausted,  discouraged  condition  of  the  South, 
and  what  an  empty  eggshell  the  Confederacy  was.     The 
Confederate  States  were  criminating  one  another,  especially 
South  Carolina,  for  having  forced    them   into   Secession. 
Georgia  was  never  more  than  half-hearted  in  it,  and  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens,  the  vice-president  of  the  Confederacy, 
would  have  been  only  too  glad  to  accept  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  as  the  issue  of  the  war.     This  State  claimed  the 
right  to  withdraw  her  own  troops  from  the  service  of  the  Con 
federacy,  as  she  did  her  2,000  State  militia,  after  the  fall  of 
Atlanta.    The  Confederate  troops  were  at  this  time  deserting 
in  numbers  almost  as  fast  as  they  were  killed  and  disabled 
in  the  service.    Some  of  the  leading  Confederate  generals 
had  lost  their  respect  for  President  Davis,  and  were  freely 
criticising  his  management  of  the  war,  and  especially  his 
blindness  to  the  coming  result.     Charleston,  which  began 
the   war    so  bravely,  could  attempt  nothing  whatever   to 
repel  the  invader,  and  her  people  were  fleeing  in  dismay, 
like  guilty    souls,  to   escape  their  doom.     All   the  other 
Southern   States  had  lost  their  courage  and  their  troops, 
and  were   ready  to  let  that  single  army  march   up  their 
coast,  encountering  no  successful  resistance,  until  Lee  and 
Johnston  were  both  glad  to  capitulate.     Yet  it  would  seem 
that  General  Sherman  was  the  only  one  up  to  this  time  who 
appreciated  the  real  weakness  of  the  South,  and  dared  to 
test  it  with  the  hope  of  success. 


358  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

A  fleet  had  been  sent  to  meet  Sherman  at  Savannah,  and 
it  arrived,  in  command  of  Admiral  Dahlgren,  about  the 
time  Sherman  began  the  investment  of  the  city.     He  re 
ceived  immediate  communication   with   the   admiral,  and 
General  Foster  who  was  on  board.     He  asked  no  help  but 
a  few  siege  guns,  and  in  three  days  the  city  fell.     Of  the 
campaign  to  this  point  General  Sherman  wrote  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War:     "The  army  has  marched  over  300  miles  in 
24  days,  directly  through  the  heart  of  Georgia,  and  reached 
the  sea  with  its   subsistence  trains  almost  unbroken.     In 
the  entire  march  five  officers  and  58  men  were  killed,  13 
officers  and  232  men  wounded ;  one  officer  and  258  men 
missing,  making  a  total  list  of  casualties  of  but  577  of  all 
ranks;  while  1,338  Confederate  officers  and  men  were  made 
prisoners.     Ten  thousand  negroes  left  the  plantations  of 
their  former  masters,  and  accompanied  the  column  when 
it  reached  Savannah;   over  20,000  bales    of   cotton  were 
burned,  besides  25,000  captured  at  Savannah ;  13,000  head 
of  beef  cattle,  9,500,000  pounds  of  corn ;  10,500,000  of  fod 
der  were  taken  from  the  country  and  issued  to  the  men 
and  animals.     The  men  lived  mainly  on  the  sheep,  hogs, 
turkeys,  geese,  chickens,  sweet  potatoes  and  rice,  gathered 
by  the  foragers  from  the  plantations  along  the  route  of 
each  day's  march.     Sixty  thousand  men,  taking  merely  of 
the  surplus  which  fell  in  their  way  as  they  marched  rapidly 
on  the  main  roads,  subsisted  for  three  weeks  in  the  very 
country  where  the  Union  prisoners  at  Andersonville  were 
starved  to  death  or  idiocy;  5,000  horses  and  4,000  mules 
were  impressed  for  the  cavalry  and  trains;  320  miles  of 
railway  were  destroyed,  and  the  last  remaining  links  of 
communication   between  the    Confederate  armies  in    Vir 
ginia  and  the  West  effectually  severed,  by  burning  every 
tie,  twisting  every  rail  while  heated  red-hot  over  the  flaming 
piles  of  ties,  and  laying  in  ruin  every  depot,  engine  house, 
repair  shop,  water  tank  and  turn-table." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  359 

The  announcement  of  this  victory  at  the  North  was  as 
great  a  relief  to  the  public  as  it  was  to  the  President. 
Nothing  had  been  heard  from  this  army  since  it  left  At 
lanta,  except  what  was  limited  and  unreliable  through  the 
Richmond  papers.  As  to  whether  that  critical  undertaking 
was  proving  a  success,  or  that  well-appointed  army  was 
being  repulsed,  or  starved  into  surrender,  the  wisest  had 
their  fears.  But  when  assured  that  the  expedition  so  far 
had  been  little  more  than  a  walk-over  of  the  richest  and 
most  populous  of  the  Southern  States,  and  that  the  best 
Southern  seaport  not  in  our  hands  had  been  surrendered  to 
us,  it  was  apparent  that  the  last  resources  of  the  Confed 
eracy  were  failing  them,  and  that  the  last  resolute  efforts 
of  the  North  to  re-enforce  her  armies,  and  save  the  Republic, 
were  proving  a  success.  The  West  had  been  pouring  down 
her  troops  and  supplies  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
with  a  prodigality  and  determination  that  was  now  reaping 
its  reward,  while  the  East  with  equal  spirit  and  the  same 
self-sacrifice  was  providing  Grant  with  all  the  troops  he 
needed  to  supply  the  waste  of  the  Wilderness,  and  hold  Lee 
in  his  remorseless  grasp  until  he,  too,  must  surrender.  The 
inspiration  of  such  a  victory  at  the  North,  as  well  as  the 
discouragement  of  such  a  defeat  upon  the  South,  could  only 
hasten  the  end. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  ELECTIONS  IN  1864. 

Governor  Buckingham  Again  Re-elected — The  Voting  of  Soldiers  in 
the  Field — Governor  Buckingham's  Words  on  Slavery  in  His  Mes 
sage — Adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment— Mr.  Lincoln 
Re-elected. 

While  we  have  been  following  the  military  operations  of 
the  year,  we  have  lost  sight,  for  the  time,  of  the  action  of 
the  President,  the  doings  of  Congress,  the  work  of  the 
Northern  governors  and  their  Legislatures,  and  the  presi 
dential  election  of  this  year.  The  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
we  know,  was  never  more  busy  in  meeting  the  demand  for 
troops,  or  the  Legislature  more  united  and  efficient  in  sus 
taining  the  general  government,  or  more  resolute  in  their 
determination  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  And  what  was 
true  of  this  State  and  its  Governor,  was  true  of  every  other 
Northern  State. 

The  spring  election  in  Connecticut  this  year  was  quiet 
and  resulted  in  the  re-election  of  Governor  Buckingham. 
The  "  Peace  Movement,"  in  sympathy  with  the  "  Draft 
Riots"  of  New  York  city  the  previous  year,  and  the 
attempt  to  prevent  the  soldiers  from  voting,  had  been 
pretty  much  disposed  of  when  this  election  came.  An 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  of  four  days  had  just  been 
held  at  Hartford  and  devoted  to  this  subject.  At  a  previ 
ous  session  the  Democratic  members  had  opposed  such  a 
measure,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  unconstitutional.  This 
session  was  to  propose  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
allowing  all  electors  of  the  State  in  the  volunteer  military 
service  of  the  United  States  to  vote  in  the  field  during  the 
rebellion.  This  amendment  was  adopted  in  the  House  of 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  361 

Representatives  by  a  strict  party  vote  of  117  yeas  to  77 
nays.  The  Senate  was  not  required  to  vote  upon  it,  as 
such  a  measure  must  be  submitted  to  a  subsequent  Legisla 
ture,  and  then  submitted  to  the  Senate,  before  it  was 
referred  to  the  people  at  large  for  adoption  by  the  popular 
vote.  At  the  regular  session  in  May  this  year  (1864),  the 
message  of  the  Governor,  it  is  said,  "  exhibited  the  same 
calm  dignity,  clear  statements,  and  intense  loyalty,  that 
had  characterized  his  previous  official  communications.  He 
thus  tersely  stated  the  argument  for  the  amendment  giving 
the  soldiers  the  ballot :  "  Freemen  who  sustain  and  pro 
tect  a  government  by  baring  their  bosoms  to  the  deadly 
shafts  of  its  enemies,  should  have  an  opportunity  to  express 
an  opinion  in  respect  to  its  policy  and  the  character  and 
qualification  of  its  officers."*  In  this  same  message, 
Governor  Buckingham  thus  expressed  his  own  convictions, 
and  those  of  his  State,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  prosecution 
of  the  war,  but  in  respect  to  slavery  as  the  cause  of  it : — 

Slavery  is  not  dead.  Its  life  is  in  the  custody  of  its  friends,  and 
while  it  shall  so  remain  there  will  be  no  peace.  The  events  of  the 
past  urge  us  to  adopt  some  measure  which  shall  terminate  in  favor  of 
freedom  that  controversy  which  must  ever  exist  so  long  as  a  part  of 
the  nation  remains  free  and  a  part  enslaved.  .  .  Let  us  embrace 
this  opportunity  and  perform  these  duties  (establish  justice  and  form 
a  more  perfect  union)  with  humble  confidence  that  under  the  guid 
ance  of  the  King  of  Kings,  this  revolution  will  carry  the  nation 
onward  in  the  path  of  prosperity,  intelligence,  and  influence,  and 
upward  to  a  higher  level  of  freedom,  civilization,  and  Christianity, 
until  every  man,  whether  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  igno 
rant,  of  whatever  tribe  or  race  or  nation,  shall  be  protected  in  all  the 
inalienable  rights  which  God  has  given  him,  under  our  national 
emblem  of  liberty,  union,  and  power. 

*  A  newspaper  at  this  time  puts  the  matter  thus  :  "  Perhaps  we  are  prejudiced, 
but  it  seems  to  us  that  a  man  who  does  nothing  worse  than  shed  his  blood  for  the 
old  flag,  ought  not,  for  so  small  an  offense  as  that,  to  be  disfranchised  like  a  com 
mon  thief."  Some  of  the  States  refused  to  grant  this  privilege  to  soldiers  in  the 
field.  Governor  Seymour  of  New  York  vetoed  such  a  bill,  and  when  it  was  after- 
wards  adopted,  it  was  purposely  nullified  by  allowing  their  votes  to  be  sent  home 
and  cast  for  them  by  their  nearest  friends.  Any  one  may  guess  how  many  of  them 
were  ever  c  ast,  or  cast  for  those  for  whom  they  were  intended. 


362  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  constitutional  amendment  providing  for  the  exten 
sion  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  was 
then  adopted  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  after 
being  submitted  to  the  people  before  the  presidential  election 
took  place,  it  was  ratified  by  a  majority  of  10,000,  and  the 
soldiers  in  the  field,  whatever  might  have  been  their  party 
connections  at  home,  pretty  generally  voted  to  sustain  the 
present  administration,  both  State  and  National.  The 
Springfield  Republican,  a  newspaper  remarkably  quick  to 
appreciate  public  sentiment,  and  sagacious  in  its  forecasts 
of  the  future  results  of  such  sentiment,  says  in  this  con 
nection  :  "  Altogether  this  election  has  been  a  glorious 
triumph  for  the  Union  party  of  Connecticut,  and  a  very 
flattering  endorsement  of  Governor  Buckingham's  adminis 
tration.  Such  an  endorsement  is  not  to  be  mistaken." 
This  Union  sentiment  showed  its  controlling  power  when 
the  presidential  election  came  in  the  autumn.  For  while 
the  Democrats  were  appealing  for  peace,  the  Republicans 
were  insisting  on  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 
And  while  the  former  made  abundant  use  of  the  fact  that 
the  Union  had  not  yet  been  restored  after  three  years  of 
vigorous  fighting,  the  latter  showed  how  much  rebel  terri 
tory  had  already  been  reclaimed,  and  were  more  resolute 
than  ever  that  the  rest  should  be.  Although  the  Peace 
party  in  Connecticut  was  stronger  than  in  any  other 
Northern  State,  the  Republicans  had  elected  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  their  Legisla 
ture,  and  eighteen  out  of  the  twenty-one  Senators.  And 
when  the  two  parties  came  to  be  represented  on  the  presi 
dential  ticket  by  Abraham  Lincoln  and  General  McClellan, 
the  electoral  votes  of  Connecticut  helped  to  swell  that 
popular  majority  of  400,000  for  Mr.  Lincoln. 

Efforts  had  been  made  from  the  first  to  settle  the  Seces 
sion  difficulty  by  negotiation  and  diplomacy,  never  so  many 
or  so  urgent  as  in  these  last  days  of  the  Confederacy,  when 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  363 

the  prospect  of  securing  Secession  by  force  of  arms  was 
becoming  hopeless.  The  earlier  attempts,  including  the 
•convention  in  Washington  at  the  call  of  Virginia,  have 
been  described.  In  July  of  this  year,  certain  refugees  in 
Canada  asked  a  safe  conduct  to  Washington  in  the  interests 
of  peace.  Mr.  Lincoln  authorized  Horace  Greeley  to  take 
charge  of  the  affair,  and  he  found  they  were  not  authorized 
by  the  Confederacy  to  make  any  proposals.  About  the 
same  time,  Colonel  Jaques  of  Illinois  and  Mr.  Gilmore  of 
New  York  went  to  Richmond  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  knowledge, 
but  without  any  formal  permission.  To  them  Mr.  Jefferson 
Davis,  who  was  afterwards  to  run  away  in  woman's  clothes, 
used  these  swelling  words :  "  It  (the  war)  must  go  on  till 
the  last  man  of  this  generation  falls  in  his  tracks,  and  his 
children  seize  his  musket  and  fight  our  battles — unless  you 
acknowledge  our  right  to  self-government.  We  are  not 
fighting  for  slavery;  we  are  fighting  for  independence. 
And  that,  or  extermination  we  will  have."  These  words, 
of  course,  had  their  effect  at  the  North.  There  was  another 
attempt  still  later,  which  maybe  noted  here  to  complete 
the  subject,  It  took  place  at  Hampton  Roads,  between  Mr. 
Stephens,  the  Confederate  vice-president,  Mr.  Hunter  and 
Mr.  Campbell  on  one  side,  and  President  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Seward  on  the  other.  It  was  after  Sherman  had  taken 
Savannah,  and  Farragut  was  in  possession  of  Mobile  bay, 
and  Charleston  was  deserted,  and  Columbia,  the  capital  of 
.South  Carolina,  had  been  sacked.  It  was  when  some  of 
the  Southern  States,  like  Georgia  and  North  Carolina,  were 
reproaching  South  Carolina  for  having  dragged  them  into 
Secession  and  the  war,  and  were  glad  to  see  her  reaping 
the  fruit  of  her  rashness  and  crime,  and  there  was  a  wide 
spread  disaffection  toward  the  Confederate  government, 
and  especially  toward  its  President.  Then  they  came  to 
negotiate  a  peace.  But  these  commissioners  were  not 
authorized  to  concede  the  reunion  of  the  States  upon  any 


364  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

terms,  and  President  Davis  utterly  repudiated  it,  as  a  thing 
never  to  be  thought  of,  while  President  Lincoln  would  not 
treat  with  them  upon  any  other  basis.  As  showing  how 
blind  and  arrogant  the  Confederate  government  even  then 
was,  hear  how  Mr.  Davis  addressed  a  great  public  meeting 
at  Richmond,  upon  the  return  of  these  commissioners  :  "  In 
my  correspondence  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  functionary  has 
always  spoken  of  the  United  States  and  the  Confederacy 
as  '  our  afflicted  country,'  but  in  my  replies  I  have  never 
failed  to  refer  to  them  as  separate  and  distinct  governments. 
And  sooner  than  we  should  ever  be  united  again,  I  would 
be  willing  to  yield  up  everything  I  have  on  earth,  and  if  it 
were  possible  I  would  sacrifice  my  life  a  thousand  times 
before  I  would  succumb."  And  he  concludes  by  exhorting 
those  at  home  who  are  able  to  bear  arms,  "  to  unite  with 
those  already  in  the  army  in  repelling  the  foe,  believing 
that  thereby  we  would  compel  the  Yankees  in  less  than 
twelve  months  to  petition  us  for  peace  on  our  own  terms." 
To  this  the  meeting  unanimously  responded  :  "  Resolved., 
that  we  the  citizens  here  assembled,  do  spurn,  with  the 
indignation  due  to  so  gross  an  insult,  the  terms  on  whk  h 
the  President  of  the  United  States  has  offered  peace  to  the 
people  of  the  Confederate  States."  This  was  only  four 
months  before  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  armies. 

But  the  presidential  canvass  of  1864  had  come,  which 
was  to  settle  everything.  The  first  convention  called  was* 
addressed  "  To  the  Radical  Men  of  the  Nation,"  and  nomi 
nated  General  Fremont  for  President.  It  advocated  severer 
measures  than  any  other  party  would  have  favored  and 
among  others  that  "  rebel  property  ought  to  be  confiscated 
and  divided  among  soldiers  and  settlers."  General  Fre 
mont,  however,  withdrew  from  the  contest,  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  when  he  saw  the  issue  made  between  the  Repub 
lican  Union  party,  and  the  Democratic  Peace  party.  Not 
that  he  sympathized  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  but 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  365 

as  between  his  party  and  the  positions  of  the  peace  party 
he  would  aid  the  former.* 

The  Democratic  convention  which  nominated  General 
McClellan  was  tainted  with  the  peace-at-any-price  doctrine. 
Its  presiding  officer  was  ex-Governor  Seymour  of  New 
York,  and  its  platform  was  largely  shaped  by  Vallanding- 
ham.  This  platform  while  declaring  "  fidelity  to  the  Union 
under  the  Constitution,"  asserts  that  the  public  welfare  de 
mands  immediate  efforts  for  a  "  cessation  of  hostilities,  with 
a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention  of  the  States,  or  other 
peaceable  means  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal 
Union  of  the  States."  In  accepting  the  nomination,  Mc 
Clellan  felt  it  necessary  to  dissent  from  that  portion  which 
implied  that  the  war  had  been  in  vain.  Secretary  Seward 
said  in  a  public  speech  after  this  convention  had  been  held : 
*'  Sherman  and  Farragut  have  knocked  the  bottom  out  of 
the  Chicago  nominations.  The  issue  is  thus  squarely  made 
up:  McClellan  and  division,  or  Lincoln  and  Union." 

The  Republican  party,  which  had  been  the  support  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  thus  far  through  all  the  diffi 
culties  and  perplexities  of  his  strange  position,  and  under 
whose  guidance  they  seemed  about  to  secure  both  union 
and  freedom,  and  upon  a  basis  not  likely  to  be  disturbed 
again,  renominated  him,  of  course,  for  the  presidency,  and 


*In  his  letter  of  withdrawal  he  said:  "The  presidential  contest  has  in  effect 
been  entered  upon  in  such  a  way  that  the  union  of  the  Repu  blican  party  has  be 
come  a  permanent  necessity.  The  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  signifies  either 
separation  or  re-establishment  of  slavery.  The  Chicago  platform  is  simply  sepa 
ration.  General  McClellan's  letter  of  acceptance  is  re-establishment  with  slavery. 
The  Republican  candidate  is,  on  the  contrary,  pledged  to  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Union  without  slavery,  and  however  hesitating  his  policy  may  be,  the  pressure 
of  his  party  will,  we  may  hope,  force  him  to  it.  Between  these  issues,  I  think  no 
man  of  the  liberal  party  can  remain  in  doubt,  and  I  believe  I  am  consistent  with  my 
antecedents  and  my  principles  in  withdrawing ;  not  to  aid  in  the  triumph  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  but  to  do  my  part  in  preventing  the  election  of  the  Democratic  candidate. 
In  respect  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  continue  to  hold  exactly  the  sentiments  contained  in  my 
letter  of  acceptance.  I  consider  that  his  administration  has  been  politically,  mili 
tarily,  and  financially  a  failure,  and  that  its  necessary  continuance  is  a  cause  of 
regret  to  the  country." 


366  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  the  fearless  opponent  of 
secession  at  the  South,  as  Vice-President.  The  platform 
maintained  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  the  paramount 
authority  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States, 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  the  repudiation  of  com 
promise  with  the  insurgents,  the  abolition  of  slavery  by 
constitutional  amendment,  the  emancipation  proclamation 
and  the  employment  of  negro  soldiers,  provision  for  soldiers 
and  sailors  disabled  by  wounds,  redress  for  the  treatment 
of  prisoners  of  war,  both  colored  and  white,  the  encourage 
ment  of  immigration,  the  inviolability  of  the  public  debt, 
and  the  application  of  the  Monroe  doctrine. 

The  autumn  State  elections,  which  preceded  the  presi 
dential  election,  were  watched  with  great  interest,  as  indi 
cating  the  direction  and  strength  of  public  sentiment  with 
reference  to  the  matters  at  issue,  and  when  Indiana, 
naturally  a  Democratic  State,  showed  a  change  of  30,000 
votes  in  favor  of  the  Republican  ticket,  partly  due  to  the 
admirable  conduct  of  Governor  Morton,  who,  although 
originally  a  Democrat,  had  given  magnificent  support  to 
Mr.  Lincoln.  Pennsylvania  elected  fifteen  Republican  con 
gressmen  to  nine  Democrats,  in  place  of  twelve  to  twelve  as 
at  the  last  election.  Ohio  gave  a  Republican  majority  of 
more  than  50,000,  and  Maryland,  a  slave  State,  adopted  a 
new  constitution,  banishing  slavery  forever  from  her  soil. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  re-elected  by  212  electorial  votes  to 
21  for  General  McClellan.  The  latter  carried  only  three 
States,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  popular  majority  was  428,000. 
The  signs  of  the  times  were  plain  to  any  one  who 
could  see. 

Then  followed  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  the  reas 
sembling  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  December  6, 1864. 
And  with  all  the  important  work  upon  their  hands,  in  view 
of  the  evident  determination  of  the  North  to  close  up  this 
war,  and  guard  against  any  recurrence  of  it  from  the  cause 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  367 

which  led  to  it,  they  at  once  set  about  amending  the  Con 
stitution  so  as  to  prohibit  slavery  forever.  On  this  point 
the  President,  in  his  last  annual  message,  had  laid  down  his 
position  as  follows  :  "  In  presenting  the  abandonment  of 
armed  resistance  to  the  national  authority,  on  the  part  of 
the  insurgents,  as  the  only  indispensable  condition  to  ending 
the  war  on  the  part  of  the  government,  I  retract  nothing 
heretofore  said  as  to  slavery.  I  repeat  the  declaration 
made  a  year  ago,  that '  while  I  remain  in  my  present  posi 
tion  I  shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emanci 
pation  Proclamation,  nor  shall  I  return  any  person  who  is 
free  by  the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the 
acts  of  Congress/  If  the  people  should,  by  whatever  mode 
or  means,  make  it  an  executive  duty  to  re-enslave  such 
persons,  another,  and  not  I,  must  be  their  instrument  to 
perform  it."  Difficult  as  it  had  properly  been  made  to 
change  the  Constitution,  requiring  two-thirds  of  the  Senate 
and  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  submit  such  a 
change  to  the  people,  and  then  the  ratification  of  the  same 
by  two-thirds  of  the  States,  yet  the  late  elections  had  shown 
such  a  change  in  Congress,  that  the  amendment  was  adopted 
both  there  and  by  the  States  separately.  This  all-impor 
tant  change  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
clearly  and  briefly  expressed,  and  adopted  as  a  concur 
rent  resolution,  as  presented  by  Mr.  Trumbull  of  Illinois, 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  and 
was  as  follows:  "Be  it  resolved,  etc.,  that  the  following 
article  be  proposed  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States, 
as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  said  Legislatures, 
shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  a  part  of  the 
said  Constitution,  namely  :— 

"ARTICLE  XIII. 

"  SECTION  1. — Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 


368  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

victed,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

"  SEC.  2.— Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appro 
priate  legislation." 

Thus  the  way  was  being  fast  prepared  for  the  closing  up 
of  the  war,  and  for  the  complete  elimination  out  of  our 
Constitution,  politics,  economics,  and  social  life  of  what 
had  always  rested  as  a  hindrance  upon  one-half  the  country 
in  its  proper  development,  and  compelled  the  other  half  to 
reluctantly  consent  to  its  continuance  for  the  sake  of  having 
one  government,  and  one  that  recognized  "  the  inalienable 
rights  of  every  man  to  life,  liberty,  and  pursuit  of  happi 
ness,"  even  though  for  the  time  such  rights  were  denied  to 
the  slave.  For  the  sake  of  such  a  democratic  government 
and  such  a  Union,  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  confederation 
of  separate  States,  the  free  States  had  adopted  the  Consti 
tution,  and  pledged  themselves  to  leave  slavery  to  the  slave 
States,  the  slave  States  being  equally  pledged  not  to  extend 
slavery  into  free  territory,  nor  require  of  the  North  any 
legislation  to  extend  and  perpetuate  the  system.  The  South 
had  violated  its  agreement  again  and  again,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  Mexican  war  had  been  carried  on  to  secure  Texas 
for  additional  slave  territory,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
passed  to  make  us  slave  catchers,  and  the  Kansas  outrages 
perpetrated  on  free  territory  to  keep  out  freemen  as  set 
tlers,  and  the  war  of  Secession  begun  because  we  would 
not  submit  to  all  such  unreasonable  demands,  that  public 
feeling  became  strong  enough  and  general  enough  to  con 
tend  successfully  against  the  aggressive  and  disruptive 
policy  of  the  South.  It  became  a  duty  to  make  this  in  fact 
a  self-governed  and  successful  republic  based  on  the  equal 
rights  of  all  before  the  law.  It  was  more  than  a  duty ;  it 
was  nothing  less  than  a  providential  opportunity,  which 
had  never  come  before  and  might  never  come  again,  and 
which  patriots  and  philanthropists  and  God-fearing  men 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  369 

could  not  disregard.  Then,  too,  it  was  a  peculiar  Provi 
dence  which  had  raised  up  and  put  Abraham  Lincoln  at 
the  head  of  the  government  at  such  a  time,  and  two  such 
commanders  as  Grant  and  Sherman  at  the  head  of  our 
armies,  all  men  so  anxious  for  peace,  and  ready  to  bring  it 
about  in  the  easiest  and  most  magnanimous  terms.  To 
this  point  were  we  being  fast  led,  by  "  a  Power  not  ourselves 
that  makes  for  righteousness,"  which  to  most  of  us  means 
God,  the  sovereign  ruler  of  men,  and  which  the  rest  rejoice 
in  as  the  saving  force  of  the  universe. 


CHAPTER    XXII 
THE  LAST  YEAR  OP  THE  WAR. 

Review  of  the  Situation — Fight  in  Mobile  Bay — Sherman  in  Georgia — 
Grant's  Investment  of  Petersburg — Evacuation  of  Richmond — 
Decisive  Battle  at  Sailor's  Creek. 

The  year  1865  opened  auspiciously  upon  the  political  and 
military  prospects  of  the  Union  government.  Almost  at 
its  beginning  Fort  Fisher,  which  guarded  the  approaches  to 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,  and  had  so  long  held  out  against  the 
efforts  of  the  government  to  either  capture  the  fort  or  seal 
up  the  harbor  against  blockade  running,  was  taken,  and  was 
designated  as  the  place  where  Sherman's  army  would  meet 
a  fleet  with  supplies,  and  what  additional  land  forces  he 
might  need  after  having  made  his  "  March  to  the  Sea."  A 
formidable  fleet,  under  Admiral  Porter,  and  a  sufficient 
land  force,  under  General  Terry,  both  admirably  conducted, 
captured  that  fortification,  most  like  a  "  Malakoff  "  of  any 
thing  in  our  war,  and  put  it  with  all  its  supplies  and  free 
communication  with  the  North,  at  the  service  of  Sherman's 
approaching  army.*  It  had  been  attempted  before,  but 
without  success,  and  now  when  possession  of  this  port  was 
most  needed  to  carry  out  with  confidence  Sherman's  daring 
and  complicated  project,  here  it  was,  open  to  welcome  him 
with  re-enforcements  and  supplies,  and  one  of  his  able 


*  General  Schofield,  who  was  with  Sherman's  expedition  as  far  as  Atlanta,  and 
was  sent  back  from  there  to  look  after  Hood  on  his  way  to  Tennessee,  and  helped 
Thomas  defeat  him  at  Nashville,  and  pursued  him  until  his  army  was  thoroughly 
broken  up  and  scattered,  performed  an  important  part  in  the  capture  of  Wilmington 
and  the  surrounding  region,  and  met  his- old  commander  there  to  help  him  finish  up 
his  campaign  and  be  present  to  witness  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army  in  North 
Carolina.  Indeed,  it  was  one  of  the  feats  of  the  war,  removing  him  and  his  army 
corps  of  15,000  men,  with  their  artillery  and  baggage,  over  a  distance  of  1.800  miles 
by  rail  to  Washington,  and  by  sea  to  Wilmington,  both  within  seventeen  days. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  371 

and  trusted  commanders  on  hand  to  help  him  complete 
his  victory. 

A  little  previous  to  this,  Farragut  had  even  surpassed  his 
achievements  at  New  Orleans  and  up  the  Mississippi,  by 
reducing  the  forts  of  Mobile  bay,  and  destroying  the  rebel 
ram  being  built  there,  before  it  could  get  out  to  play  havoc 
with  our  wooden  fleet.     The  Confederacy  had  proven  itself 
remarkably  skillful  in  constructing  such  vessels,  and  in 
defending  its  harbors  by  torpedoes.     This  bay  was  strongly 
defended  by  both,  and  Farragut  had  been  impatiently  wait 
ing  for  a  year  for  the  government  to  furnish  him  with 
monitors  enough,  and  a  sufficient  land  force,  to  take  posses 
sion  of  this  harbor.     It  was  not  until  the  summer  of  1864 
that,  with  such  means  at  his  command,  he  went  about  his 
work.     One  of   the   most  formidable  rams   ever  built    by 
the  Confederacy  — the  Tennessee— was  just  finished,  and 
might  any  day  come  out  of  the  harbor  and  sweep  away 
everything  of   wood.      It  was   built  upon  the   same   plan 
as   the   Merrimac,   which  sank  the  Cumberland  and   blew 
up   the   Congress   in  Hampton    bay,  early  in  the  war.     It 
was  commanded  by  Admiral  Buchanan  of  the  Confederate 
navy,  who  was  in  command  of  the   Merrimac   when  she 
caused  such  consternation  among  all  our  fleets.     The  only 
defect  about  this  ironclad  was  that  its  steering  apparatus 
was  not  properly  protected,  and  that  it  had   insufficient 
machinery  and  steam  power.     Never  had  there  been  such  a 
battle  as  this  was  to  be.     It  was  to  be  a  fight  between  that 
sea  monster,  assisted  by  a  few  gunboats,  on  one  side,  and 
our  eight  wooden  sloops  of  war,  and  a  variety  of  other 
smaller  vessels,  on  the  other.     The  whole  of  the  Union 
fleet  must  be  driven  through  a  nest  of  torpedoes.     Admiral 
Farragut's  plan  of  battle  was  to  have  each  of  his  sloops  of 
war  attached,  on  the  inside  towards  the  forts,  to  one  of  the 
swift  steamers,  to  increase  her  speed  and  drag  her  out  of 
danger  in  case  her  own  machinery  was  disabled.     His  flag- 


372  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ship,  the  Hartford,  was  lashed  on  the  inside  to  one  of  the 
double-enders,  the  Metacomet,  and  the  admiral  proposed  to 
lead  the  advance,  but  was  dissuaded  from  it  by  the  unani 
mous  advice  of  his  captains,  and  that  position  was  assigned 
to  his  old  flagship  at  New  Orleans,  the  Brooklyn.  The 
four  monitors  were  to  go  a  little  in  advance,  and  on  the 
right  of  the  wooden  vessels.  The  six  war  sloops,  with  a 
steamer  attached,  were  to  follow. 

It  was  a  clear,  sunny  August  morning  when  a  shell  was  exploded 
over  Fort  Morgan,  and  within  half   an  hour  the  fleet  came  within 
range  and  the  tiring  from  the  inside  vessels  became  general,  the  fort 
and  the  Confederate  fleet  replying.    The  wooden  vessels  moved  more 
rapidly  than  the  monitors,  and  as  the  flagship  came  opposite  the  fort, 
and  approached  the  torpedo  line,  she  came  nearly  alongside  of  the 
rear  monitor.    To  have  kept  on  would  have  been  to  take  the  lead, 
with  the  ram  Tennessee  approaching,  and  with  the  unknown  danger 
of  the  torpedoes  underneath.     At  this  critical  moment  the  Brooklyn 
halted,  and  began  backing  and  signaling.     The  flagship  was  imme 
diately  behind,  and  the  following  vessels  were  in  close  proximity, 
and  the  sudden  stopping  of  the   Brooklyn  threatened  to  bring  the 
whole  fleet  into  collision,  while  the  strong,  inflowing  tide  was  likely 
to  carry  some  of  the  vessels  ashore  under  the  guns  of  the  fort,     The 
Brooklyn  signaled,  "  The  monitors  are  right  ahead;  we  cannot  go  on 
without  passing  them."    The  reply  was  sent  at  once  from  the  admiral, 
"  Order  the  monitors  ahead  and  go  on."    But  still  the  Brooklyn  halted, 
while  to  add  to  the  horror  of  the  situation,  the  monitor  Tecumseh,  a 
few  hundred  yards  in  advance,  suddenly  careened  to  one  side  and 
almost  instantly  sank  to  the  bottom,   carrying  with    her  Captain 
Craven  and  the  greater  part  of  his  crew,  numbering  in  all  114  officers 
and  men.    Meantime  the  Brooklyn  failed  to  go  ahead,  and  the  whole 
fleet  became  a  stationary  point-blank  target  for  the  guns  of  the  fort 
and  of  the  rebel  vessels.     It  was  during  these  few  perilous  moments 
that  the  most  fatal  work  of  the  day  was  done  to  the  fleet.    Owing  to 
the  Hartford's  position,  only  her  few  bow  guns  could  be  used,  while 
a  deadly  rain  of  shot  and  shell  was  falling  on  her,  and  her  men  were 
being  cut  down  by  scores,  unable  to  make  reply.     The  sight  on  deck 
was  sickening  beyond  the  power  of  words  to  portray.     Shot  after 
shot  came  through  the  side,  mowing  down  the  men,  deluging  the 
decks  with  blood,  and  scattering  mangled  fragments  of  humanity  so 
thickly  that  it  was  difficult  to  stand  on  deck,  so  slippery  was  it.    At 

one  o-un  all  the  crew  on  one  side  were  swept  down  by  a  shot  which 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  373 

came  crashing  through  the  bulwarks.  A  shell  burst  between  the  two 
forward  guns  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Tyson,  killing  and  wounding 
fifteen  men.—  ["  War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  390. 

Soon  after  the  fight  began,  Admiral  Farragut  climbed  to 
the  masthead  to  obtain  a  view  above  the  fog  and  smoke. 
At  the  urgent  request  of  Captain  Drayton  he  consented  to 
be  lashed  to  the  rigging  as  a  precaution  against  falling,  if 
he  should  be  wounded.  While  he  remained  there  the  mast 
was  once  struck  by  a  heavy  shell,  but  it  failed  to  explode. 
When  the  Tennessee  arrived  and  headed  for  the  flagship, 
she  was  struck  amidship  by  the  Monongahela,  one  of  our 
heaviest  vessels,  furnished  with  a  ram,  but  the  blow  made 
no  impression.  She  was  also  struck  by  the  Lackawanna, 
but  kept  on  her  course  for  the  Hartford,  meantime  putting 
two  shots  through  her  latest  assailant.  When  she  ap 
proached  the  Hartford  this  vessel  steamed  to  meet  her  bow 
on.  At  the  last  moment  the  rebel  ram  swerved  slightly, 
and  the  vessels  rubbed  against  each  other  as  they  passed. 
A  broadside  was  poured  into  the  ram  but  did  no  harm. 
One  shot  from  her  passed  through  the  berth  deck,  killing 
five  men.  All  the  Union  vessels  were  now  making  for  the 
Tennessee,  firing  balls  against  her  which  did  no  damage 
and  attempting  to  run  her  down.  One  of  them  managed 
to  run  into  the  Hartford  and  did  some  damage.  The  whole 
fleet  pursued  the  ram,  and  the  shots  were  directed  at  her 
stern  what  was  not  fully  protected  by  armor.  At  last  a 
shot  cut  one  of  her  rudder  chains  and  made  her  unmanage 
able.  Her  commander  was  badly  wounded,  and  as  another 
ship  was  about  to  strike  her  she  surrendered. 

This  sea  fight  was  the  last  and  most  formidable  of  the 
war ;  for  this  was  the  supreme  effort  of  the  Confederacy 
to  protect  her  harbors  by  rams  and  torpedoes.  This  was 
another  of  the  struggles  between  monitors  and  ironclads, 
which  was  to  revolutionize  the  whole  science  and  art  of 
marine  warfare  over  the  world.  A  full  and  graphic  account 


374  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

of  this  light  is  found  in  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Kinney's  article  in 
the  "  Century  Company's  War  Book,"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  379), 
the  most  exact,  complete  and  graphic  description  of  that 
important  naval  operation  to  be  found  anywhere.  Lieu 
tenant  Kinney  was  an  officer  in  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut 
Infantry,  and  was  Admiral  Farragut's  signal  officer,  fur 
nished  to  communicate  with  the  land  forces.  He  was 
stationed  with  him  on  the  crosstrees  of  the  fore-topmast  of 
his  ship,  and  tells  how  he  came  to  be  there,  and  how  the 
admiral  came  to  be  tied  to  the  rigging  100  feet  above  the 
deck.  It  is  a  fine  representation  of  that  grand  old  hero  in 
such  a  stress  of  circumstances,  and  can  be  relied  upon  in 
its  minutest  particulars. 

Returning  now  to  General  Sherman,  we  find  that  after 
taking  Savannah  in  the  Christmas  time  of  1864,  he  remained 
about  a  month  to  refresh  his  army,  communicate  with  the 
fleet  and  get  supplies,  especially  of  clothing  for  the  troops. 
It  had  not  yet  been  decided  whether  he  should  be  allowed 
to  follow  his  own  plan  and  go  north  by  land.  He  made 
further  appeal  for  authority  to  do  this.  He  wrote  to  Gen 
eral  Grant :  u  1  know  that  this  inarch  is  necessary  to  the 
war.  It  must  be  made  sooner  or  later,  and  I  am  in  the 
proper  position  for  it.  I  ask  no  re-enforcements,  but  simply 
wish  the  utmost  activity  at  all  other  points,  so  that  the 
enemy  may  not  concentrate  too  powerfully  against  me.  I 
expect  Davis  will  move  heaven  and  earth  to  resist  me,  for 
the  success  of  my  army  is  fatal  to  his  dream  of  empire. 
Richmond  is  not  more  vital  to  the  cause  than  Columbia." 

At  last  consent  was  obtained,  and  he  set  out  through  the 
Carolinas  by  way  of  Wilmington.  Charleston  he  counted 
of  no  consequence.  The  army  moved  January  15,  1865, 
the  same  day  on  which  Fort  Fisher  was  taken.  Almost  at 
the  outset  it  was  embarrassed  by  heavy  rains.  The  columns 
were  almost  submerged  in  the  soaked  rice  fields,  a  cause 
way  was  washed  away,  the  swamps  became  lakes  of  slimy 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  375 

mud,  and  it  was  not  until  the  first  week  in  February  that 
the  whole  army  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The 
march  thenceforth  was  not  unlike  that  through  Georgia. 
The  army  moved  in  two  columns,  thirty  miles  apart,  fol 
lowed  the  lines  of  railroad  and  destroyed  them,  and  diverted 
the  enemy  by  feints  on  places  never  meant  to  be  attacked. 
It  is  curious  to  notice  that  Charleston,  the  place  where 
Secession  was  nourished  as  a  political  principle,  and  where 
treason  had  been  hatched  and  the  war  forced  on  the  country, 
was  now  thought  of  so  little  importance  that  a  conquering 
army  would  not  turn  aside  to  deal  with  it  as  with  other 
places.  The  Confederates,  however,  saw  that  it  could  not 
resist  if  attacked,  and  withdrew,  burning  part  of  the  city  as 
they  retired.  The  Union  troops  made  no  attempt  to  occupy 
it,  but  turned  abruptly  to  the  north,  thus  disclosing  the  real 
purpose  of  the  expedition.  The  objective  point  now  was 
Columbia,  the  capital  of  the  State,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  towns  of  the  South,  and  noted  for  the  number 
of  public  buildings  and  educational  institutions.  It  was 
occupied  by  Wade  Hampton's  cavalry  and  a  small  force 
besides.  The  force  was  not  large  enough  to  offer  successful 
resistance,  and  as  Sherman's  army  approached,  the  place 
was  evacuated  and  the  more  important  buildings  destroyed. 
The  cotton  had  been  carried  into  the  streets,  the  bags  cut, 
and  at  the  proper  time  it  was  set  on  fire  and,  blown  by  a 
strong  wind,  carried  flames  everywhere.  Sherman  made 
great  efforts  to  save  private  houses  and  protect  families.* 


*  This  inhuman  and  senseless  act  was  charged  upon  General  Sherman  and  his 
troops,  to  which  he  replies  :  "  I  disclaim  on  the  part  of  my  army  any  agency  in  this 
fire,  but  on  the  contrary  claim  that  we  saved  what  of  Columbia  remains  uncon- 
sumed.  And  without  hesitation  I  charge  General  Wade  Hampton  with  having 
burned  his  own  city  of  Columbia,  not  with  a  malicious  intent,  or  as  the  manifesta 
tion  of  a  silly  '  Roman  stoicism,'  but  from  folly  and  want  of  sense  in  filling  it  with 
lint,  cotton,  and  tinder.  Our  officers  and  men  on  duty  worked  well  to  extinguish 
the  flames.  But  others  not  on  duty,  including  the  officers  who  had  long  been  im 
prisoned  there,  rescued  by  us,  may  have  assisted  in  spreading  the  fire  after  it  had 
once  begun,  and  may  have  indulged  in  unconcealed  joy  to  see  the  ruin  of  the  capi 
tal  of  South  Carolina." 


376  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

From  Columbia  northward,  General  Sherman  was  not  to 
expect  so  little  resistance.  For  Hood's  failure  to  hinder 
Sherman's  operations  had  compelled  President  Davis  to 
remove  him,  and  restore  General  Johnston  to  his  old  com 
mand.  He  was  now  in  North  Carolina,  collecting  all  the 
troops  from  every  quarter  that  the  Confederacy  could  fur 
nish,  to  check  Sherman's  onward  inarch  and  prevent  a  junc 
tion  with  Grant.  Hardee  was  with  him,  and  the  troops  with 
drawn  from  Charleston.  So  were  the  troops  withdrawn 
from  Columbia.  The  local  garrisons  and  militia  of  North 
Carolina,  re-enforced  to  some  extent  from  Lee's  army,  were 
also  with  him.  And  this  force  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  remnants  of  the  Confederate  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
though  the  railroads  had  been  so  broken  up,  and  the  whole 
track  of  Sherman's  army  so  stripped  of  supplies,  that  it 
was  found  difficult  to  secure  many  from  that  quarter.* 
Besides  Sherman  had  just  passed  by  the  remnants  of  a  Con 
federate  corps,  and  effectually  cut  them  off  from  rendering 
any  assistance.  Still  General  Johnston  had  probably,  after 
Hampton  joined  him,  a  force  of  24,000  veterans,  and  was 
expecting  morc.f  And  with  Johnston's  well-known  ability 
and  caution,  which  his  opponent  well  understood  and 
respected,  he  was  not  likely  to  encounter  him  with  his 
forces  scattered,  or  be  taken  at  any  disadvantage.  He 
made  short  stay  at  Columbia,  and  was  soon  pushing  on 


*  This  state  of  things  in  the  line  of  Sherman's  march  was  well  expressed  by  the 
soldiers :  "  A  crow  could  not  fly  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah  without  a  haversack," 

t"The  Military  Biography  of  Sherman  and  his  Campaigns,"  says  :  "These  forces, 
when  once  united,  would  constitute  an  army  probably  superior  to  Sherman's  in 
cavalry  and  formidable  enough  in  artillery  and  infantry  to  justify  him  in  extreme 
caution,  in  taking  the  last  step  necessary  to  complete  the  march."  General  Lee 
had  just  sent  Johnston  5,000  cavalry  under  Wade  Hampton,  to  which  Wheeler  had 
been  added,  with  perhaps  a  corresponding  number ;  two  of  the  ablest  and  most  to 
be  feared  commanders  in  that  branch  of  the  Confederate  service,  who  were  not  to 
be  encountered  by  any  number  of  invaders  without  danger.  Kilpatrick,  General 
Sherman's  cavalry  leader,  well  known  to  him  and  valued  in  such  service,  had  a  force 
of  .5,068  men,  including  a  six-gun  battery  of  horse  artillery,  and  a  small  brigade  of 
dismounted  men,  so  that  the  encounters  between  these  forces  alone  were  frequent 
and  desperate,  and  sometimes  amounted  to  important  battles. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  877 

through  North  Carolina  as  if  he  expected  to  reach  Virginia 
and  help  Grant  close  up  the  war  there.  But  at  what  point 
he  would  approach  Virginia,  whether  at  Charlotte  on  the 
west,  connecting  directly  with  the  Danville  railroad  to 
Richmond,  the  one  by  which  Lee  at  last  tried  to  escape 
from  Grant,  or  at  Goldsboro  near  the  coast,  and  connecting 
with  Wilmington,  which  had  just  been  opened  by  our  fleet 
and  army  to  receive  him,  could  not  be  ascertained.  That 
this  port  was  opened  was  not  known  to  him  then,  for  though 
Fort  Fisher,  which  defended  Wilmington,  had  been  recently 
reduced,  it  was  not  known  that  the  bay  and  city  were  acces 
sible  until  he  was  almost  there.  He  adhereS  to  his  favorite 
plan  of  dividing  the  Confederate  forces  resisting  him,  by 
moving  one  wing  of  his  army  toward  Charlotte,  and  press 
ing  far  on  in  that  direction,  and  then  turning  both  wings 
abruptly  toward  Goldsboro,  where  he  found  more  troops 
awaiting  him,  and  all  needful  supplies.  To  arrive  there, 
however,  he  had  been  obliged  to  do  some  pretty  heavy  fight 
ing,  which  not  every  commander  with  the  same  force  could 
have  come  out  of  so  well. 

Some  of  the  most  critical  and  serious  of  these  fightings 
in  North  Carolina  were  between  the  cavalry  forces  of  the 
two  armies,  as  Sherman  was  approaching  Fayetteville. 
General  Kirkpatrick  once  found  himself  in  the  middle  of 
General  Hampton's  whole  force,  lost  many  men  and  barely 
escaped  himself  on  foot.  The  most  serious  battle  was  at 
Bentonville,  where  a  Confederate  force  of  40,000  fought 
what  was  really  the  decisive  battle  of  the  campaign,  since 
its  issue  decided  whether  Sherman  should  reach  Goldsboro 
and  secure  his  connection  with  the  North  by  sea  at  Wil 
mington.  Johnston's  purpose  was  to  crush  Slocum's  left 
wing  of  the  army  before  Howard's  right  wing  could  assist 
it.  The  two  divisions  had  been  drawn  nearer  together  than 
usual  with  a  view  to  such  a  possibility.  Six  successive 
assaults  were  successfully  resisted  and  then  Johnston  with- 


378  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

drew  and  entrenched  himself  to  await  attack  in  turn. 
Here  he  was  outflanked  by  Sherman,  taken  in  the  rear  and 
obliged  to  retreat  to  Raleigh  so  hastily  that  his  pickets 
were  left  behind.  This  last  battle  was  fought  March  19, 
1865,  and  Sherman  then  moved  on  to  Goldsboro.  General 
Sherman,  after  a  hasty  visit  to  Generals  Terrv  and  Scho- 
field.  took  the  first  train  of  cars  that  ran  to  Morehead  and 
thence  a  swift  steamer  to  City  Point,  where  he  met  in  coun 
cil  the  President,  Generals  Grant,  Meade,  etc.,  returning  as 
hurriedly  to  his  army  at  Goldsboro,  which  he  reached  on 
March  30. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  our  government  had  heard 
nothing  from  him  since  he  left  Savannah,  the  middle  of 
January,  and  he  had  not  learned  that  Fort  Fisher  had  been 
captured,  nor  that  Wilmington  was  occupied  by  our  forces, 
nor  that  Schofield,  one  of  his  old  commanders,  and  one  of 
his  army  corps  had  been  transferred  to  Wilmington  to 
re-enforce  him,  and  a  fleet  to  reclothe  his  ragged  troops. 
It  was  not  until  a  week  or  two  before,  as  he  was  approach 
ing  this  part  of  the  coast,  that  he  sent  two  trusty  scouts 
through  the  enemy's  country,  to  apprise  the  commander  of 
the  Union  forces  on  that  coast,  wherever  he  might  be  found, 
of  his  whereabouts  and  success.  "  We  are  all  well,  and 
have  done  finely  ;  details  are  for  obvious  reasons  omitted," 
was  the  brief  and  satisfactory  message  they  bore.  It  was 
thought  important  enough  to  be  spread  before  the  country 
in  an  official  bulletin  from  the  Secretary  of  War. 

Meantime  General  Grant,  after  the  battles  of  the  Wilder 
ness,  had  continued  to  plan  and  execute  operations  which 
were  no  longer  disconnected  and  almost  haphazard,  but 
parts  of  one  coherent  theory  of  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
Thus  the  reduction  of  Fort  Fisher,  and  the  occupation  of 
Wilmington  and  Newbern,  were  to  give  Sherman  re-enforce 
ments  and  supplies  if  he  should  ever  get  so  far  north  on 
his  venturesome  expedition.  Mobile  bay  also  had  been 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  379 

opened,  after  a  desperate  struggle  and  great  cost,  to  have 
another  fleet  and  land  forces  meet  him  there.  General 
Schofield  and  his  army  division  had  been  transported  with 
railroad  speed  from  Tennessee,  and  down  the  coast  by 
transports,  to  repair  Sherman's  losses  when  he  should  have 
reached  the  end  of  his  long  and  dangerous  march.  At  the 
same  time  Grant  had  kept  up  his  vigorous  operations 
around  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  that  Lee  should  not 
re-enforce  Johnston  too  liberally  when  the  crisis  was  com 
ing.  This  was  all  done  with  a  liberality  and  unselfish 
devotion  in  painful  contrast  with  some  of  our  previous 
commanders.  The  confidence  and  devotion  to  each  other's 
welfare,  and  disposition  to  ascribe  to  others  no  small  share 
of  their  own  success,  which  characterized  the  officers  of  our 
army  and  of  our  navy  at  the  close  of  the  war,  was  most 
honorable  to  both  branches  of  the  service. 

In  addition  to  the  naval  operations  of  1864,  and  the  suc 
cessful  expedition  of  General  Sherman,  General  Grant  had 
planned  and  successfully  carried  out  another,  in  forever 
removing  all  further  trouble  from  the  Shenandoah  valley. 
This  was  the  garden  and  storehouse  of  Virginia,  and  as  it 
was  so  well  protected  by  mountains  on  both  sides,  and  ran 
up  so  directly  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  it  not  only 
furnished  supplies  for  any  Northern  expedition,  but  was 
also  the  gateway  to  both  those  States,  and  was  always  hold 
ing  out  a  temptation  to  some  Northern  invasion,  as  it  did 
to  Lee  when  he  invaded  Pennsylvania  and  fought  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg  in  1863,  and  to  Early  when  he  invaded  Mary 
land  and  threatened  Washington  in  1864.  To  clear  the 
valley  of  Confederate  forces,  and  destroy  its  supplies  so 
that  no  army  could  subsist  there,  Sheridan  had  been  sent, 
and  there  he  had  contended  successfully  with  General  Jubal 
A.  Early,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Confederate  commanders, 
and  seemingly  put  an  end  to  all  further  trouble  from  that 
quarter.  He  had  only  just  rested  and  remounted  his  cavalry 


380  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

force,  when  he  returned  to  Grant  in  the  spring  of  1865,  to 
do  his  great  work  in  cutting  off  the  flight  of  Lee's  army 
and  compelling  his  surrender.  Probably  there  never  was 
a.  finer  body  of  cavalry  organized  in  our  war  than  this, 
9,000  strong  and  made  up  of  veterans. 

The  investment  of  Petersburg,  to  which  General  Grant 
devoted  Iiimsolf  so  diligently  after  the  close  of  the  Wilder 
ness  campaign,  was  virtually  the  investment  of  Richmond, 
the  Confederate  capital.  They  were  only  a  little  more  than 
twenty  miles  apart,  the  one  at  the  head  of  navigation  on 
the  James  river,  and  the  other  a  few  miles  up  the  Appo- 
mattox,  above  its  junction  with  the  James.  With  these 
were  connected  the  whole  system  of  Southern  railroads 
and  the  James  river  canal,  upon  which  both  cities  were 
dependent  for  their  daily  supplies,  and  without  which  Gen 
eral  Lee's  army  could  not  have  been  kept  in  the  field  for  a 
fortnight.  This  was  the  object  of  so  many  cavalry  raids 
in  the  rear  of  Lee's  army,  to  break  up  those  railroads  and 
destroy  that  canal,  and  it  was  owing  to  the  thoroughness 
with  which  it  had  been  done,  that  both  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  were  finally  evacuated  and  Lee  surrendered. 
Thus  General  Grant  says  : — 

The  operations  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond  through  the 
winter  and  until  the  spring  campaign  of  1865  commenced,  were  con 
fined  to  the  defense  and  extension  of  our  lines,  and  to  offensive  move 
ments  for  crippling  the  enemy's  lines  of  communication,  and  to 
prevent  his  detaching  any  considerable  force  to  send  South.  And 
after  the  long  march  of  General  Sheridan's  cavalry  from  the  Shenan- 
doah  valley  over  wintry  roads,  it  was  necessary  to  rest  and  refit  at 
White  House.  At  this  time  the  greatest  source  of  uneasiness  to  me 
was  the  fear  that  the  enemy  would  leave  his  strong  lines  about  Peters 
burg  and  Richmond,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  with  Johnston,  before 
he  was  driven  out  of  his  defenses  by  battle,  or  I  was  prepared  to 
make  an  effectual  pursuit. 

It  was  not  until  the  27th  of  March  that  Sheridan  joined 
Grant  before  Petersburg,  and  within  a  fortnight  had  the 
satisfaction  and  the  honor  of  arresting  the  whole  Confed- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  381 

erate  army  in  its  attempted  flight,  and  affording  Grant 
such  aid  in  compelling  its  surrender. 

It  was  not,  however,  without  a  final  and  desperate  strug 
gle  that  the  end  came.  All  through  the  summer  and  winter 
of  1864,  the  investment  of  Petersburg  had  been  kept  up  with 
vigor.  The  country  around  the  city  for  a  dozen  miles  was 
covered  with  forts,  earthworks  and  trenches,  and  the  two 
armies  had  pushed  them  so  near  each  other  that  in  places 
they  were  not  more  than  iifty  yards  apart,  and  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  expose  a  head  or  a  hand  over  an  embankment  with 
out  drawing  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  Early  in  the  invest 
ment  an  effort  had  been  made'  on  our  part  to  mine  and 
blow  up  some  of  the  principal  fortifications.  The  miserable 
success  of  that  explosion,  and  the  useless  loss  of  life  to 
which  it  subjected  us,  forbid  any  repetition  of  such  an 
experiment.  The  work  was  thereafter  carried  on  until  the 
next  spring  by  the  most  wearisome  and  anxious  life  in  the 
trenches.  And  it  was  not  until  the  last  of  March,  1865, 
that,  in  the  struggle  to  take  and  to  retain  those  strong 
works,  the  Confederacy  gave  way,  and  was  compelled  to 
abandon  its  defenses  and  meet  our  superior  army  in  the 
open  field. 

It  will  always  be  a  marvel  that  the  Confederate  States, 
with  their  unequal  population  and  resources,  no  foreign 
commerce,  and  their  financial  credit  all  gone,  could  have 
carried  on  such  a  war  so  long  and  so  vigorously  almost  to 
the  last.  With  more  wisdom,  and  without  that  insane  idea 
of  establishing  a  great  slave  empire,  it  never  could  have 
been  done.  The  defeat  at  Gettysburg,  the  re-election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  1864  by  an  unprecedented  majority,  the  utter 
defeat  of  the  peace  party  in  the  North,  the  pouring  in  of 
men  and  money  to  repair  the  awful  waste  of  the  late  cam 
paigns,  all  these  were  indications  that  the  struggle  of  the 
South  had  become  hopeless. 

General  Grant's  anxiety  lest  General  Lee  should  endeavor 


382  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

to  break  through  the  line  of  entrenchments  around  Peters 
burg  and  escape,  was  not  without  reason,  for  on  the  night 
of  March  24  the  Confederate  General  Gordon  made  a  vig 
orous  and  successful  assault  upon  our  lines  where  they 
were  nearest  to  the  enemy,  and  when  desertion  from  the 
enemy  to  our  lines  was  of  daily  occurrence.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  and  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the 
commanding  general  sent  out  his  pickets  with  their  arms, 
scattered  over  the  whole  intervening  space,  until  they  came 
creeping  up  to  our  pickets  from  every  quarter,  as  so  many 
deserters  had  done  when  our  men  found  that  they  themselves 
were  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  sent  to  the 
rear  as  such.  This  was  all  done -so  quietly  and  successfully, 
that  our  men  within  the  main  lines  and  back  of  their  pickets 
were  not  aware  of  it,  until  considerably  later  in  the  night 
there  came  a  powerful  charge  upon  that  portion  of  our 
lines,  which  captured  Fort  Stedman  and  the  adjacent 
battery,  turned  their  guns  upon  their  own  men,  and  secured 
all  the  arms  and  troops  in  them.  Continuing  the  charge, 
they  carried  two  other  batteries.  Lee  was  concentrating 
not  less  than  20,000  of  his  troops,  almost  one-half  of  his 
army,  upon  that  point,  and  had  there  not  been  unexpected 
delay  in  bringing  them  up,  he  would  doubtless  have  suc 
ceeded  in  his  purpose.  But  fortunately  General  Parke,  in 
command  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  became  aware  of  the  situa 
tion,  and,  acting  with  promptness  and  vigor,  he  gathered  a 
large  number  of  pieces  of  artillery  and  planted  them  in 
the  rear  of  the  captured  works,  so  as  to  thoroughly  sweep 
the  narrow  space  of  ground  between  the  lines,  and  the 
enemy  could  neither  advance  nor  retreat.  In  fact  two  of 
our  divisions  headed  the  rebels  off  in  one  direction,  where 
they  were  charging  most  successfully,  and  drove  them  back 
into  Fort  Stedman,  and  then  recaptured  their  own  forts 
and  entrenchments  and  all  that  was  within  them. 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  383 

The  artillery  fire  was  kept  up  so  continuously  that  it  was  impossi 
ble  for  the  Confederates  to  retreat,  and  equally  impossible  for  re-en 
forcements  to  join  them.  They  all  therefore  fell  captives  into  our 
hands.  This  effort  of  Lee  cost  him  about  4,000  men,  and  resulted  in 
their  killing,  wounding  and  capturing  about  2,000  of  ours.— ["  Grant's 
Memoirs,"  Vol.  II,  p.  433. 

Now  came  the  last  Confederate  attempt  to  escape,  and  its  failure. 
General  Grant  had  issued  orders  to  his  commanders  to  be  drawing  in 
around  Petersburg,  and  be  within  supporting  distance   when   this 
should  happen,  as  it  must.     And  the  very  night  that  the  successful 
Confederate  assault  was  made  upon  Fort  Stedman,  these  orders  had 
been  issued  and  were  being  responded   to  with  alacrity.    On  the 
morning  of  Wednesday,  the  29th  of  March,  the  advance  movement 
was  to  be  made,  and  at  9  A.  M.  General  Grant  and  his  staff  took  the 
cars  from  City  Point  for  the  front,  eighteen  miles  distant.     President 
Lincoln  was  there,  having  come  down  to  confer  with  his  generals  in 
regard  to  this  critical  movement.     General  Sherman  had  also  left  his 
army  in  North  Carolina,  and  hurried  up  from  Wilmington  for  such  a 
conference,  and  returned.     The  President  accompanied  General  Grant 
to  the  train,  and  as  he  stepped  on  board,  the  President  stood  grasping 
the  iron  rod  at  the  rear  of  the  car,  and  saying:     "I  wish  I  could  go 
with  you.'1     The  cavalry  under  Cook  and  Merritt  moved  off  in  two 
columns,  and  at  night  reached  Dinwiddie  Courthouse.     The  infantry 
under  Warren,  Humphreys,  Ord,  Wright  and  Parke,  and  in  this  order 
from  left  to  right,  extended  without  a  break  from  Dinwiddie  Court 
house   to    the  Appomattox.     Lee  was  at  Five  Forks,  where  several 
roads  intersected,  and  was  posted  as  follows:    Ewell  commanded  the 
garrison  in   Richmond;    Longstreet  below    that  city,   north   of  the 
James,   and  across  the  river  nearly  to  Petersburg;  Gordon  was  at 
Petersburg,  and  Hill  south  and  west  of  that  place.     From  the  night 
of  the  29th  to  the  morning  of  the  31st,  the  rain  fell  in  such  torrents  as 
to  make  it  impossible  to  move  wheeled  vehicles  except  as  corduroyed 
roads  were  laid  in  front  of  them.    Sheridan,  however,  during  the  30th 
had  advanced  from  Dinwiddie  Courthouse  toward  Five  Forks,  where 
he  found  the  enemy  in  force.     Lee  had  stripped  the  Petersburg  en 
trenchments  as  much  as  he  could  with  safety,  and  obtained  on  the 
31st  a  force  of  about  '20,000,  chiefly  the  divisions  of  Fickett  and  Johns 
ton,   to  meet  the  threatened  attack.     This  extension  of  his  lines 
toward  Five  Forks  had  weakened  Lee's  left,  and  it  was  the  discovery 
of  it  which  led  Wright  and  Parke  to  report  that  they  could  assault 
successfully.— [Draper's  "  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  570. 

It  was  these  attacks  made  by  Grant  and  Sheridan  upon 
the  Confederates,  March  31  and  April  1,  which  were  the 
most  critical  of  the  campaign,  and  caused  them  both  the 


384  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

most  anxiety.  The  danger  was  that  infantry  enough  could 
not  be  brought  up  in  time  to  support  Sheridan's  cavalry. 
There  were  10,000  of  them,  "natty  fellows,  with  tight- 
fitting  uniforms,  short  jackets,  and  small  magazine  car 
bines,  swarming  through  the  pine  thickets  and  dense 
undergrowth,  and  looking  as  if  they  had  been  especially 
equipped  for  crawling  through  knot-holes."  They  could 
sweep  over  the  country  for  any  distance  around,  and  leave 
their  horses  behind  and  fight  as  infantry,  and  hold  a  large 
infantry  force  at  bay  for  a  considerable  time,  but  with  the 
advantages  of  the  solid  infantry  organizations,  and  the 
abundant  artillery  which  such  an  organization  usually  pos 
sesses,  they  are  at  a  great  disadvantage,  as  Sheridan  now 
found,  when  so  many  of  the  latter  were  massed  before  him, 
and  his  own  infantry  supports  so  slow  in  coming  up.  He 
probably  never  had  harder  work,  or  experienced  more 
anxiety  in  all  his  military  service,  and  the  result  was  the 
highest  tribute  that  could  be  paid,  not  only  to  his  dauntless 
courage  and  desperate  fighting,  but  to  his  quick  perceptions 
and  just  judgment,  and  complete  self- control,  which  made 
no  mistakes  in  this  critical  campaign,  and  which  has  led 
military  critics  to  regard  it  as  one  of  the  best  planned  and 
best  fought  battles  of  the  war. 

On  the  morning  of  that  last  day  of  March,  the  enemy  was 
reported  as  entrenching  themselves  at  Five  Forks,  near 
Dinwiddie  Courthouse.  General  Grant  had  ordered  up 
the  infantry  to  support  Sheridan,  but  the  weather  was  so 
bad,  and  such  was  the  difficulty  in  moving  infantry  and 
artillery,  that  they  were  slow  in  reaching  him,  and  be 
fore  they  did  reach  him  he  found  himself  vigorously  re 
sisted.  General  Grant  hurried  to  the  front,  and  dispatched 
General  Porter,  one  of  his  staff,  to  Sheridan,  to  inform  him 
what  was  being  done  for  his  support.  General  Porter 
reached  Sheridan,  who  said  that  he  had  had  "  one  of  the 
liveliest  days  in  his  experience,  fighting  infantry  and  cav- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  385 

airy  with  cavalry  only,  but  that  lie  was  concentrating  his 
command  on  the  high  ground  just  north  of  Dinwiddie,  and 
would  hold,  that  position  at  all  hazards."  But  he  begged 
Porter  to  go  back  to  General  Grant  at  once,  and  urge  him 
to  send  the  Sixth  Corps  "  because  it  had  been  under  him  in 
the  battles  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  knew  his  way  of 
fighting."  This  corps,  however,  could  not  be  spared,  and 
he  was  promised  the  Fifth. 

The  night  of  March  31  was  spent  by  Grant,  Meade  and 
Sheridan  in  hastening  preparations  for  the  battle  of  the 
next  day,  when  Grant  hoped  for  an  opportunity  of  "  fight 
ing  the   enemy's   infantry    outside   of    its   fortifications." 
The  assault  was  made  by  the  Fifth  Corps,  which  had  borne 
the  brunt  of  the  fighting  ever  since  the  movement  began. 
After  desperate  fighting  and  heavy  loss,  the  earthworks 
were  carried  with  a  rush.     Sheridan  had  been  chafing  with 
impatience,  dismounting  his   horse,  and   pacing  up   and 
down,  saying :     "  This   battle   must   be   fought   and    won 
before   the   sun   goes  down.     All  the  conditions  may  be 
changed    by  morning  and  we  have  only  a  few   hours  of 
sunlight  left.     My  cavalry  are  fast  using  up  their  ammu 
nition,  and  if  the  attack   is  delayed  they  will  soon  have 
none  left."     More   officers  were  sent  off  to  hurry  up  the 
columns,  and  it  was  9  o'clock  before  the  formation  was 
complete,  the  order  for  assault  given,  and    the   struggle 
for  the  entrenched  lines  begun.     Here  was  to  be  encoun 
tered   the    same    intrepid    fighter    who   made   such    des 
perate  charges  upon  our  lines  at  Gettysburg,  and  whom 
Sheridan  had  found  it  so  difficult  to  drive  out  of  the  Shen- 
andoah  valley.     It  was  then  that  Sheridan  called  for  his 
crimson-and- white  battle  flag,  and  in  his  cheery,  bantering 
way  led  his  troops — "  Come  on,  men  !     Go  at  'em  !     They 
are  getting  ready  to  run ! " — and  turned  the  tide  of  battle  in 
their  favor.     "  That  line  of  weather-beaten  veterans  moved 
right  along  the  slope  toward  the   woods,  whence  batteries 


386  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

were  mowing  them  down  with  a  steady  swing  that  boded 
no  good  to  Pickett's  command,  earthworks  or  no  earth 
works,"  while  he  himself  on  his  favorite  black  horse,  Rienzi, 
that  carried  him  from  Winchester  to  Cedar  creek,  which 
Buchanan  Read  has  made  famous  for  all  time  as  "  Sheri 
dan's  Ride,"  had  dashed  on  over  the  very  earthworks  of 
the  destructive  "  Angle,"  and  plunged  into  a  crowd  of  pris 
oners  who  had  thrown  away  their  arms  and  were  hiding 
there  for  shelter.  That  was  the  end  of  the  war  so  nearly 
reached,  as  the  whole  army  understood  it,  and  as  General 
Porter  says  :  "  Sheridan  had  that  day  fought  one  of  the 
most  interesting  technical  battles  of  the  war,  almost  per 
fect  in  conception,  brilliant  in  execution,  strikingly  dra 
matic  in  its  incidents,  and  productive  of  important  results." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Surrender  of  the  Two  Principal  Confederate  Armies — Negotiations 
for  Surrender — Difficulties  iu  the  Way  Made  Unconditional — Mag 
nanimity  of  the  Union  Commanders — Its  Appreciation  by  the 
Confederates — No  More  Fighting — The  Relief  of  the  South — The 
Joy  of  the  North. 

The  time  had  come  for  Lee's  surrender.  He  had  staked 
everything  upon  this  last  battle  and  lost,  when  he  with 
drew  all  his  troops  from  Petersburg  and  the  neighboring 
forts,  so  long  the  stronghold  of  the  Confederacy  ;  abandoned 
Richmond,  after  destroying  half  the  city,  that  he  might 
gather  force  enough  to  sweep  away  Grant  and  Sherman 
from  the  pathway  of  his  flight — when  "flight  had  become 
impossible,  and  nothing  remained  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
bloody  slaughter,  but  to  throw  down  their  arms  and  be 
come  captives,  and  Ewell,  with  eleven  of  his  general  offi 
cers,  including  the  ablest  of  them,  and  about  all  his  gallant 
army  that  survived  were  prisoners,  and  in  this  battle  more 
men  were  captured  in  actual  conflict,  without  negotiation, 
than  on  any  other  field  in  America;"  and  when  Sheridan, 
the  night  before  the  surrender,  had  captured  their  last  train 
of  supplies,  and  Lee  begged  at  once  for  rations,  saying, 
"  My  own  men  have  lived  for  the  past  few  days  principally 
upon  parched  corn,  and  we  are  badly  in  need  of  both 
rations  and  forage,"  the  end  had  certainly  come,  not 
only  to  that  long  and  terrible  campaign  against  Richmond, 
but  to  the  war.  Within  ten  days  after  that  battle  of 
"  Sailor's  Creek,"  the  whole  army  of  Northern  Virginia  had 
surrendered  to  General  Grant  upon  his  own  conditions,  of 
"  unconditional  surrender,"  to  be  followed  at  once  by  the 


388  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

surrender  of  Johnston's  Southern  army,  the  flight  of  Presi 
dent  Davis,  and  the  complete 'dissolution  of  the  whole  Con 
federacy. 

General  Porter,  who  was  upon  Grant's  staff  at  this  time 
and  present  in  these  operations,  gives  a  particular  account 
of  the  occurrences  and  negotiations  that  related  to  the  sur 
render.  ("  War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  728.)  "  It  was  a  little 
before  noon  on  the  7th  of  April,  1865,  that  General  Grant 
and  his  staff  rode  into  the  little  village  of  Farmville,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Appomattox  river,  and,  dismounting  at  the 
village  hotel,  established  headquarters  on  its  broad  piazza. 
One  of  our  prisoners,  formerly  of  the  regular  army,  and  a 
relative  of  General  Ewell,  had  told  General  Grant  the  night 
before  that  Ewell  said  the  cause  was  lost,  and  that  they 
ought  to  negotiate  for  peace.  This  statement,  together  with 
the  news  received  from  Sheridan,  saying  that  he  had  heard 
that  General  Lee's  trains  of  provisions  which  had  come  by 
rail  were  at  Appomattox,  and  that  he  expected  to  capture 
them  before  they  could  reach  Lee,  led  him  to  address  to 
Lee  the  following  communication  "  : — 

HEADQUARTERS,  ARMIES  OF  THE  U.  S.,  I 
5  P.  M.,  April  7,  1865.  J 

GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding  C.  S.  A.  : 

The  results  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you  of  the  hopelessness 
of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift 
from  myself  the  responsibility  of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by 
asking  of  you  the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  army 
known  as  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 
General  Lee  replies  :— 

APRIL  7,   1865. 

GENERAL: — I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date.  Though  not 
entertaining  the  opinion  you  express  of  the  hopelessness  of  further 
resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  I  reciprocate 
your  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  and  therefore,  before 
considering  your  proposition,  ask  the  terms  you  will  offer  on  con 
dition  of  its  surrender.  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

LIKUT.  GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT,  Commanding  Armies  of  the  U.  S. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  389 

The  answer  was  as  follows  : — 

APRIL  8,  1865. 
GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. : 

Your  note  of  last  evening,  in  reply  to  mine  of  the  same  date,  ask 
ing  the  conditions  on  which  I  will  accept  the  surrender  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  is  just  received.  In  reply  I  would  say  that 
peace  being  my  great  desire,  there  is  but  one  condition  I  would  insist 
upon,  namely,  that  the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  dis 
qualified  for  taking  up  arms  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States  until  properly  exchanged.  I  will  meet  you,  or  will  designate 
officers  to  meet  any  officers  you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at 
any  point  agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  definitely 
the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  will  be  received.  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

Then  came  the  following  : — 

APRIL  8,  1865. 

GENERAL: — I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  of  to-day.  In  mine 
of  yesterday  I  did  not  intend  to  propose  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  but  to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be 
frank,  I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  sur 
render  of  this  army,  but  as  the  restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole 
object  of  all,  I  desired  to  know  whether  your  proposals  would  lead  to 
that  end.  I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  surrender  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia;  but  as  far  as  your  proposal  may  affect 
the  Confederate  State  forces  under  my  command,  and  tend  to  the 
restoration  of  peace,  I  should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  10  o'clock 
A.M.  to-morrow,  ou  the  old  stage  road  to  Richmond,  between  the 
picket  lines  of  the  two  armies.  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

LIEUTENANT  GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

Very  early  in  the  morning  was  prepared  and  dispatched 
the  following  reply  : — 

APRIL  9,  1865. 

GENERAL:— Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  I  have  no  authority 
to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace.  The  meeting  proposed  for  10  o'clock 
to-day  could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state,  however,  that  I  am  equally 
desirous  of  peace  with  yourself,  and  the  whole  North  entertains  the 
same  feeling.  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  under 
stood.  By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms,  they  would  hasten  that 
most  desirable  event,  save  thousands  of  human  lives,  and  hundreds  of 
millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed.  Seriously  hoping  that  all  our 
difficulties  may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I  subscribe 
myself,  etc.,  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. 


890  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  "  peace  "  which  General  Lee  wanted  and  which  Gen 
eral  Grant  replies  that  he  has  no  authority  to  deal  with,  refers 
to  the  permission  sought  for,  to  have  the  Virginia  Legislature 
called  together,  and  allowed  to  reorganize  the  State  govern 
ment  on  its  old  foundations.  This  was  a  condition  which 
President  Lincoln  and  General  Grant  were  disposed  to 
allow  at  first,  until  they  were  overruled  by  the  other  depart 
ments  of  the  government,  particularly  the  War  Depart 
ment.  And  well  that  it  was  prevented,  for  under  that 
permission  the  Confederate  Legislature  and  State  would 
have  acquired  their  old  position  in  the  Union,  and  nobody 
need  have  suffered  any  punishment  for  treason,  and  they 
might  even  have  chosen  Jefferson  Davis  for  their  governor. 

General  Lee  bad  proposed  to  General  Grant  not  long  before  to 
arrange  with  him  to  "submit  the  subjects  of  controversy  between 
the  belligerents  to  a  convention,"  etc.,  and  there  came  back  at  once 
these  instructions: 

[CYPHER.] 

OFFICE,    UNITED    STATES    MILITARY    TELEGRAPH,  I 
HEADQUARTERS,  ARMIES  OF.  THE  UNITED  STATES.    ) 

LIEUTENANT  GENERAL  GRANT: 

The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you  to  have 
no  conference  with  General  Lee  unless  it  be  for  the  capitulation  of 
Lee's  army  on  solely  minor  and  purely  military  matters.  He  instructs 
me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  or  discuss,  or  confer  upon  any 
political  question.  Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own 
hands,  and  will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conven 
tions.  Meantime  you  are  to  press  to  the  utmost  your  military 

advantages. 

EDWARD  M.  ST ANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 
— ["  War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  756. 

The  same  morning  General  Lee  received  General  Grant's 
last  note  refusing  to  communicate  with  him  upon  any  sub 
ject  except  immediate  and  unconditional  surrender.  Lee 
replied  that  he  would  meet  him  on  the  picket  line  at  once 
for  "an  interview,  in  accordance  with  the  offer  made  in 
your  letter  of  yesterday,  for  that  purpose."  And  at  half- 
past  one  on  that  Sunday  afternoon,  the  9th  of  April,  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  391 

two  generals,  each  with  his  staff,  and  some  general  officers 
about  him,  took  possession  of  the  "  McClean  house"  at  Ap- 
pomattox  Courthouse,  and  soon  arranged  in  the  frankest 
manner,  and  to  their  mutual  satisfaction,  all  the  particulars 
of  the  surrender.  At  General  Lee's  request,  General  Grant 
drew  up  the  paper  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from  himself  to 
the  Confederate  commander,  to  be  commented  upon  as  it 
was  read.  The  document  was  as  follows  :— 

APPOMATTOX  COURTHOUSE,  VA.,  April  9,  1865. 
GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. : 

GENERAL: — In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of 
the  8th  hist.,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit:  Rolls  of  all  the  officers 
and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to 
be  designated  by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  offi 
cers  as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual  pa 
roles  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  government  of  the  United  States 
until  properly  exchanged,  and  each  company  or  regimental  com 
mander  to  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands.  The 
arms,  artillery  and  public  property  to  be  packed  and  stacked,  and 
turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This 
will  not  embrace  the  side  arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private 
horses  or  baggage.  This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed 
to  return  to  his  home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  United  States 
authorities  so  long  as  they  observe  their  paroles,  and  the  laws  in 
force  where  they  may  reside.  Very  respectfully, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

When  Lee  came  to  the  sentence  about  the  "  officers  side- 
arms,  private  horses  and  baggage,"  he  showed  for  the  first 
time  during  the  reading  a  slight  change  of  countenance, 
and  was  evidently  touched  by  this  act  of  generosity.  It 
was  doubtless  the  condition  mentioned  to  which  he  par 
ticularly  alluded,  when  he  turned  towards  General  Grant  as 
he  finished  reading  and  said  with  some  degree  of  warmth  in 
his  manner :  "  This  will  have  a  very  happy  effect  upon  my 
army."  He  then  said  that  he  would  like  to  mention  one 
thing:  "The  cavalrymen  and  artillerists  own  their  own 
horses  in  our  army.  I  would  like  to  understand  whether 


392  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

these  men  will  be  permitted  to  retain  their  horses  ?  You 
will  find  the  terms  as  written  do  not  allow  this."  General 
Grant  replied :  "  Only  the  officers  are  permitted  to  take 
their  private  property.".  Lee  read  over  the  second  page  of 
the  letter  again,  and  then  said  :  "No,  I  see  the  terms  do 
not  allow  it,  that  is  clear."  His  face  showed  plainly  that  he 
was  quite  anxious  to  have  this  concession  made,  and  Grant 
said,  without  giving  him  time  to  make  a  direct  request: 
"  Well,  the  subject  is  quite  new  to  me.  Of  course  I  did  not 
know  that  any  private  soldiers  owned  their  animals,  but  I 
think  this  will  be  the  last  battle  of  the  war,  I  sincerely 
hope  so,  and  that  the  surrender  of  this  army  will  be  fol 
lowed  soon  by  that  of  all  the  others.  And  I  take  it  that 
most  of  the  men  in  the  ranks  are  small  farmers,  and  as  the 
country  has  been  so  raided  by  the  two  armies,  it  is  doubtful 
if  they  will  be  able  to  put  in  a  crop  to  carry  themselves  and 
their  families  through  the  next  winter,  without  the  aid  of 
the  horses  they  are  now  riding.  So  I  will  arrange  it  in 
this  way,  I  will  not  change  the  terms  as  now  written,  but  I 
will  instruct  the  officers  I  shall  appoint  to  receive  the  pa 
roles  to  let  all  the  men  who  claim  to  own  a  horse  or  a  mule, 
take  the  animals  home  with  them  to  work  their  little  farms." 
Lee  looked  up  greatly  relieved,  and  though  anything  but  a 
demonstrative  man,  he  gave  evidence  of  his  appreciation  of 
this  concession,  and  said  :  "  This  will  have  the  best  possi 
ble  effect  upon  the  men.  It  will  be  very  gratifying,  and 
will  do  much  toward  conciliating  our  people." 

General  Lee  was  indeed  in  absolute  extremity,  and  thus 
speaks  of  his  need  of  immediate  relief:  "  I  have  a  thousand 
or  more  of  your  men  as  prisoners,  General  Grant,  a  great 
number  of  them  officers  whom  we  have  required  to  march 
along  with  us  for  several  days.  I  shall  be  glad  to  send 
them  into  your  lines  as  soon  as  it  can  be  arranged,  for  I 
have  no  provisions  for  them.  I  have,  indeed,  nothing  for 
my  own  men."  As  he  had  said  before,  "  They  have  been 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  393 

living  for  the  past  few  days  principally  upon  parched  corn, 
and  we  are  badly  in  need  of  both  rations  and  forage.  I  tele 
graphed  to  Lynchburgh,  directing  several  train  loads  of 
rations  to  be  sent  on  by  rail  from  there,  and  when  they  arrive 
I  shall  be  glad  to  have  the  present  wants  of  my  men  supplied 
from  them."  At  this  remark,  it  is  said,  all  eyes  turned 
toward  Sheridan,  for  he  had  captured  these  trains  with  his 
cavalry,  the  night  before,  near  Appomattox  station. 

The  end,  of  course,  had  come  to  this  campaign  and  to 
this  army.  For  men  cannot  fight  unless  they  are  fed,  how 
ever  brave  and  patient  they  may  be.  And  this  accounts 
for  the  strange  fact  that  only  8,000  of  Lee's  men  were 
paroled  and  laid  down  their  arms,  when  he  asked  for  25,000 
rations,  and  over  28,000  surrendered.  He  said,  to  be  sure, 
that  he  had  a  thousand  or  more  of  our  prisoners,  who  had 
been  suffering  the  same  hardships.  But  the  effective 
strength  of  Lee's  army  at  the  beginning  of  this  campaign, 
and  as  engaged  in  the  desperate  operations  of  the  last 
fortnight  was  54,000,  according  to  official  estimates.  And 
Grant  had  captured  within  that  time  19,132  of  them,  be 
sides  the  dead,  wounded  and  missing  ("  War  Book,"  Vol. 
IV,  p.  753).  Deducting  these  from  Lee's  whole  force,  and 
considering  that  discouraged  and  starving  men  might  well 
throw  away  their  arms,  the  few  that  were  surrendered  is 
reasonable  enough.  But  it  shows  their  desperate  condition, 
and  the  condition  of  their  cause. 

Now  if  there  could  have  been  anything  better  than  food 
to  such  starving  men,  or  than  relief  to  such  disheartened 
souls,  it  must  have  been  the  consideration  and  magnanimity 
shown  them  by  the  President,  General  Grant,  and  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  army  they  had  been  fighting,  and  the  general 
sympathy  of  the  whole  North.  The  wound  had  been  deep, 
and  seemingly  fatal,  but  this  pouring  in  oil  and  wine  and 
anxiety  to  heal  it,  was  enough  to  make  a  dead  man  live 
again,  and  love  such  friends.  The  commander-in-chief 


394  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

putting  a  stop  to  the  firing  of  cannon  over  the  surrender, 
and  repressing  every  form  of  exultation,  while  the  blue  and 
the  gray  were  sitting  down  together  and  sharing  each 
other's  rations,  became  the  brightest  omen  of  our  future. 

We  now  turn  to  the  Southern  army  under  Johnston,  with 
which  Lee  had  failed  to  unite,  and  which  must  itself  sur 
render.  Determined  to  prevent  Johnston  from  pushing  on 
to  the  relief  of  Lee,  as  Grant  was  bent  on  preventing  Lee 
from  reaching  Johnston,  General  Sherman  resolved  to  head 
off  the  enemy  in  that  direction,  and  compel  him  either  to 
surrender  at  once,  or  fight  a  last  and  decisive  battle.  So 
he  issued  a  confidential  order  to  his  corps  commanders  and 
chiefs  of  staff,  to  be  in  immediate  readiness  for  an  impor 
tant  movement.  The  very  morning  this  movement  was  to 
be  made,  the  news  came  that  Richmond  had  fallen,  and  Lee 
was  making  a  desperate  effort  to  escape  southward  and 
combine  his  forces  with  those  of  Johnston,  which  only  put 
new  vigor  into  Sherman's  operations.  Kilpatrick  with  his 
cavalry  was  pushed  on  to  Raleigh,  where  the  Confederate 
army  had  been  left,  and  found  it  encamped  twenty-five 
miles  beyond  at  Durham  Station.  Here  the  news  reached 
Sherman  that  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  already 
surrendered,  and  he  was  soon  met  by  a  message  from  the 
commander  of  the  Confederate  forces  in  North  Carolina, 
requesting  a  "  cessation  of  hostilities  with  a  view  to  nego 
tiating  terms  of  surrender."  Sherman  sent  a  reply  at  once, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  a  personal  interview 
between  the  two  commanders,  "  at  a  point  midway  between 
our  advance  and  the  position  held  by  the  enemy." 

The  account  of  what  took  place,  and  of  the  effect  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  assassination  upon  General  Johnston,  to  whom  it 
was  communicated  privately,  and  all  the  particulars  of  the 
negotiations  for  exchange,  which  caused  such  perplexity  at 
the  time  and  such  misunderstanding  and  crimination  after 
wards,  are  furnished  us  bv  General  Sherman  himself  in  his 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  #95 

personal  memoirs.  As  General  Sherman  and  some  of  his 
staff  were  entering  a  car  to  meet  the  Confederate  com 
mander,  as  requested,  to  negotiate  terms  of  surrender,  the 
telegraph  operator  stopped  him  and  requested  him  to  wait 
a  few  minutes,  as  he  was  just  receiving  an  important  dispatch 
for  him.  The  dispatch  was  from  Mr.  Stanton,  announcing 
the  assassination,  and  the  attempt  on  the  life  of  Mr.  Seward 
and  his  son.  General  Sherman  asked  the  operator  if  he 
had  divulged  the  contents  of  that  dispatch  to  any  one,  and 
being  answered  in  the  negative,  he  ordered  him  to  keep 
the  secret  until  his  return.  Sherman  and  his  staff  met 
Johnston  and  Wade  Hampton,  with  a  number  of  others. 
He  says : — 

We  had  never  met  before,  though  we  had  been  in  the  regular  army 
together  for  thirteen  years.  He  was  some  twelve  years  my  senior, 
but  we  knew  enough  of  each  other  to  be  well  acquainted  at  once.  We 
asked  a  farmer  if  we  could  have  the  use  of  his  house  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  he  and  his  wife  withdrew  into  a  smaller  log  house  which 
stood  close  by.  As  soon  as  we  were  alone  together,  I  showed  him  the 
dispatch  announcing  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination,  and  watched  him 
closely.  The  perspiration  came  out  in  large  drops  on  his  forehead, 
and  he  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  his  distress.  He  denounced  the 
act  as  a  disgrace  to  the  age,  and  hoped  I  did  not  charge  it  to  the  Con 
federate  government.  I  told  him  that  I  could  not  believe  that  he  or 
General  Lee,  or  the  officers  of  the  Confederate  army,  could  possibly 
be  privy  to  acts  of  assassination;  but  I  would  not  say  as  much  for 
Jeff  Davis,  George  Landers  and  men  of  that  stripe.  We  talked  about 
the  effect  of  this  act  on  the  country  at  large,  and  on  the  armies, 
and  he  realized  that  it  made  my  situation  extremely  delicate.  I 
explained  to  him  that  I  had  not  revealed  the  news  to  my  own  personal 
staff,  or  to  the  army,  and  that  I  dreaded  the  effect  when  made  known 
in  Raleigh.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  peculiarly  endeared  to  the  soldiers,  and 
I  feared  that  some  foolish  woman  or  man  in  Raleigh  might  say  some 
thing  or  do  something  that  would  madden  our  men,  and  that  a  fate 
worse  than  that  of  Columbia  would  befall  the  place.  I  then  told 
Johnston  that  he  must  be  convinced  that  he  could  not  oppose  my 
army,  and  that  since  Lee  had  surrendered,  he  could  do  the  same  with 
honor  and  propriety.  He  plainly  and  repeatedly  admitted  this,  and 
added  that  any  further  fighting  would  be  "murder;  "  but  he  thought 
that  instead  of  surrendering  piecemeal,  we  might  arrange  terms  that 


396  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

would  embrace  all  the  Confederate  armies.  I  asked  him  if  he  could 
control  other  armies  than  his  own.  He  said  not  then,  but  intimated 
that  he  could  procure  authority  from  Mr.  Davis.  I  then  told  him  that 
I  had  recently  had  an  interview  with  General  Grant  and  President 
Lincoln,  and  that  I  was  possessed  of  their  views ;  that  with  them  and 
the  people  of  the  North  there  seemed  to  be  no  vindictive  feeling 
against  the  Confederate  armies,  but  there  was  against  Davis  and  his 
political  adherents,  and  that  the  terms  that  General  Grant  had  given 
to  General  Lee's  army  were  certainly  most  generous  and  liberal.  All 
this  he  admitted,  but  always  recurred  to  the  idea  of  a  universal  sur 
render,  embracing  his  own  army,  that  of  Dick  Taylor  in  Louisiana 
and  Texas,  and  of  Maury,  Forest,  and  others  in  Alabama  and  Georgia. 
Our  conversation  was  very  general  and  extremely  cordial,  satisfying 
me  that  it  could  have  but  one  result,  and  that  which  we  all  desired, 
viz.,  to  end  the  war  as  quickly  as  possible.  And  being  anxious  to 
return  to  Raleigh  before  the  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination 
could  be  divulged,  on  General  Johnston's  saying  that  he  thought  that 
during  the  night  he  could  procure  the  authority  to  act  in  the  name 
of  all  the  Confederate  armies  in  existence,  we  agreed  to  meet  again 
the  next  day  at  noon  at  the  same  place,  and  parted,  he  for  Hills- 
boro  and  I  for  Raleigh.— ["  Memoirs  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman," 
Vol.  II,  p.  347. 

The  next  day  General  Sherman  met  again  General  John 
ston,  at  the  time  and  place  appointed,  to  agree  upon  the 
terms  of  surrender.  General  Johnston  then  assured  him 
that  he  had  obtained  authority  over  all  the  Confederate 
armies,  and  could  surrender  them  on  the  same  terms  with 
his  own,  but  argued  that  to  obtain  so  cheaply  this  desirable 
result,  Sherman  ought  to  give  his  men  and  officers  some 
assurance  of  their  political  rights  after  their  surrender. 

1  explained  to  him  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation  of  amnesty 
of  December  8,  1863,  still  in  force,  enabled  every  Confederate 
soldier  and  officer  below  the  rank  of  colonel  to  obtain  an  absolute 
pardon  by  simply  laying  down  his  arms  and  taking  the  common 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  that  General  Grant,  in  accepting  the  sur 
render  of  General  Lee's  army,  had  extended  the  same  principle  to  all 
the  officers,  General  Lee  included.  Such  a  pardon,  I  understood, 
would  restore  to  them  all  their  rights  of  citizenship.  But  he  insisted 
that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Confederate  army  were  unnecessarily 
alarmed  about  this  matter,  as  a  sort  of  bugbear.  He  then  said  that 
Mr.  Breckenridge  was  near  at  hand,  and  he  thought  it  would  be  well 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  397 

for  him  to  be  present.  I  objected,  on  the  score  that  he  was  then  in 
Davis's  Cabinet,  and  our  negotiations  should  be  confined  strictly  to 
belligerents.  He  then  said  that  Breckenridge  was  a  major  general  in 
the  Confederate  army,  and  might  sink  his  character  of  secretary  of 
war.  I  consented,  and  he  sent  one  of  his  staff  officers  back,  who 
soon  returned  with  him.  General  Johnston  and  I  then  again  went 
over  the  whole  ground,  and  Breckenridge  confirmed  what  he  had 
said  as  to  the  uneasiness  of  the  Southern  officers  and  soldiers  about 
their  political  rights  in  case  of  surrender.  While  we  were  in  consul 
tation,  a  messenger  came  with  a  parcel  of  papers,  which  General 
Johnston  said  were  from  Mr.  Regan,  postmaster  general.  lie  and 
Breckenridge  looked  over  them,  and  after  some  side  conversation,  he 
handed  one  of  the  papers  to  me.  It  was  in  Regan's  handwriting,  and 
began  with  a  long  preamble  and  terms  so  general  and  verbose  that  I 
said  they  were  inadmissible.  Then  recalling  the  conversation  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  City  Point,  I  sat  down  at  the  table  and  wrote  the  terms 
which  I  thought  concisely  expressed  his  views  and  wishes,  and 
explained  that  I  was  willing  to  submit  these  terms  to  the  new  Presi 
dent,  Mr.  Johnson,  provided  that  both  armies  should  remain  in  statu 
quo  until  the  truce  therein  declared  should  expire.  I  had  full  faith 
that  General  Johnston  would  religiously  respect  the  truce,  which  he 
did;  and  that  I  would  be  the  gainer,  for  in  the  few  days  it  would  take 
to  send  the  papers  to  Washington  and  receive  an  answer,  I  could 
finish  the  railroad  up  to  Raleigh,  and  be  better  prepared  for  a  long 
chase.  Neither  Mr.  Breckenridge  nor  General  Johnston  wrote  one 
word  of  that  paper.  I  wrote  it  myself,  pronounced  it  the  best  I  could 
do,  and  they  readily  assented.— [General  Sherman's  "Personal  Alem- 
oirs,"  Vol.  II,  p.  353. 

The  u  basis  of  agreement,"  which  embraced  a  truce  of 
forty-eight  hours,  and  the  conditions  upon  which  the  sur 
render  was  to  be  made,  when  approved  of  by  the  two 
governments,  was  as  follows  : — 

Memorandum,  or  basis  of  agreement,  made  this  eighteenth  day  of 
April,  A.  D.  1865,  near  Durham  Station,  in  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  and  by  and  between  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  com 
manding  the  Confederate  army,  and  Major  General  William  T. 
Sherman,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  United  States  in  North 
Carolina,  both  present. 

1.  The  contending  armies  now  in  the  field  to  maintain  the  statu 
quo  until  notice  is  given  by  the  commanding  general  of  any  one  to  its 
opponent,  and  reasonable  time — say  forty-eight  hours — allowed. 

2.  The  Confederate  armies  now  in  existence  to  be  disbanded  and 


398  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

conducted  to  their  several  State  capitals,  there  to  deposit  their  arms 
and  public  property  in  the  State  arsenal;  and  each  officer  and  man 
to  execute  and  file  an  agreement  to  cease  from  acts  of  war,  and  to 
abide  the  action  of  the  State  and  Federal  authority.  The  number  of 
arms  and  munitions  of  war  to  be  reported  to  the  Chief  of  Ordinance 
at  Washington  city,  subject  to  the  future  action  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  the  meantime,  to  be  used  solely  to  maintain 
peace  and  order  within  the  borders  of  the  States  respectively. 

3.  The  recognition,  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
several  State  governments,  on  their  officers  and  Legislatures  taking 
the  oaths  presented  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
where  conflicting  State  governments  have  resulted  from  the  war,  the 
legitimacy  of  all  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

4.  The  re-establishment  of  all  the  Federal  Courts  in  the  several 
States,  with  powers  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  States  respectively. 

5.  The  people  and  inhabitants  of  all  the  States  to  be  guaranteed, 
so  far  as  the  Executive  can,  their  political  rights  and  franchises,  as 
well  as  their  rights  of  person  and  property,  as  defined  by  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  States  respectively. 

6.  The  Executive  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
not  to  disturb  any  of  the  people  by  reason  of  the  late  war,  so  long  as 
they  live  in  peace  and  quiet,  abstain  from  acts  of  armed  hostility,  and 
obey  the  laws  in  existence  at  the  place  of  their  residence. 

7.  In  general  terms — the  war  to  cease ;  a  general  amnesty,  so  far  as 
the  Executive  of  the  United  States  can  command,  on  condition  of  the 
disbandment  of  the  Confederate  armies,  the  distribution  of  the  arms, 
and  the  resumption  of  peaceful  pursuits  by  the  officers  and  men 
hitherto  comprising  said  armies. 

Not  being  fully  empowered  by  our  respective  principals  to  fulfill 
these  terms,  we  individually  and  officially  pledge  ourselves  to  promptly 
obtain  the  necessary  authority,  and  to  carry  out  the  above  programme. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major  General, 
Commanding  Army  of  the  United  States  in  North  Carolina. 

J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General, 
Commanding  Confederate  States  Army  in  North  Carolina. 

The  "  conditions  of  surrender  "  laid  down  in  this  paper 
are  essentially  different  from  those  granted  to  General  Lee, 
which  were  "  unconditional,"  so  far  as  the  reorganization  of 
the  seceded  State  governments  and  the  political  rights 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  399 

and  franchises  of  the  citizens  of  such  States  were  con 
cerned.  They  were  certainly  contrary  to  the  "  cypher  tele 
gram"  from  the  President  to  General  Grant,  directing 
him  to  have  no  "  conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  be 
for  the  capitulation  of  Lee's  army,"  and  directly  forbidding 
him  to  "  decide,  or  discuss,  or  confer  upon  any  political 
question."  This  paper,  on  the  other  hand,  seeks  to  legiti 
matize  the  Secession  State  governments ;  turns  over  to 
them  the  "  arms  and  munitions  of  war,"  about  to  be  cap 
tured,  and  restores  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  States  their 
"political  rights  and  franchises,"  without  any  accounta 
bility  for  their  treason  and  hand  in  a  civil  war.  Of  course, 
such  a  "  basis  of  agreement"  was  not  to  be  approved  of  by 
our  government,  and  General  Grant  was  immediately  sent 
there  to  order  its  rejection,  and  instruct  General  Sherman 
to  "  demand  "  of  General  Johnston  "  the  surrender  of  your 
army  on  the  same  terms  as  were  given  to  General  Lee  at 
Appomattox,"  which  was  done.  The  truth  was,  the  old 
spirit  and  intrigue  of  the  Confederacy  were  concerned  in 
that  paper,  when  an  entirely  different  spirit  had  taken  pos 
session  of  Lee  and  Johnston,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  of 
the  South,  who  were  glad  to  have  the  war  over,  and  ready 
to  come  back  into  the  Union.  The  calling  into  the  con 
ference,  which  proposed  those  terms  of  agreement,  of 
members  of  the  Confederate  Cabinet,  and  no  doubt  having 
consulted  Davis  about  it ;  the  attempt  to  settle  even  then  by 
astute  diplomacy,  what  had  been  referred  to  the  desperate 
arbitrament  of  war,  and  when  war  had  left  nothing  else 
but  submission,  "  unconditional  submission,"  to  conquerors ; 
then  to  have  insisted  upon  such  conditions,  was  as  unwise 
as  it  was  useless.  For  it  was  only  prolonging  a  hopeless 
struggle,  and  keeping  alive  the  hostility  which  would  for 
ever  have  prevented  union  and  peace. 

The  final  terms  as  ratified  and  approved,  were  these : — 


400  WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

MILITARY  CONVENTION  OF  APRIL  26,  1865. 
SUPPLEMENTAL  TERMS. 

1.  The  field  transportation  to  be  loaned  to  the  troops  for  their 
march  to  their  homes,  and  for  subsequent  use  in  their  industrial 
pursuits.     Artillery  horses  may  be  used  in  field  transportation,  if 
necessary. 

2.  Each  brigade  or  separate  body  to  retain  a  number  of  arms 
equal  to  one-seventh  of  its  effective  strength,  which,  when  the  troops 
reach  the  capitals  of  their  States,  will  be  disposed  of  as  the  general 
commanding  the  department  may  direct. 

3.  Private  horses,  and  other  private  property  of  both  officers  and 
men,  to  be  retained  by  them. 

4.  The  commanding    general  of    the  military  division  of  West 
Mississippi,  Major  General  Canby,  will  be  requested  to  give  trans 
portation  by  water,  from  Mobile  or  New  Orleans,  to  troops  from 
Arkansas  and  Texas. 

5.  The  obligation  of  officers  and  soldiers  to  be  signed  by  their 
immediate  commanders. 

6.  Naval  forces  within  the  limits  of  General  Johnston's  command, 
to  be  included  in  the  terras  of  this  convention. 

J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  Major  General, 
Commanding  United  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 

J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General, 
Commanding  Confederate  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 

The  total  number  of  prisoners  of  war  paroled  by  General  Schofield, 
at  Greensboro',  North  Carolina,  as  afterwards  officially  reported, 
amounted  to  36,817.  And  the  total  number  who  surrendered  in 
Georgia  and  Florida,  as  reported  by  General  J.  H.  Wilson,  was 
52,453.  Aggregate  surrendered  under  the  capitulation  of  General 
J.  E.  Johnston,  89,270.— [General  Sherman's1'  Personal  Memoirs,"  Vol. 
II,  p.  370. 

The  relief  to  the  South  of  the  disbandment  of  her  armies, 
after  the  rigid  conscription  and  reckless  squandering  of 
life  and  treasure  for  those  four  years  of  war ;  the  withdrawal 
of  our  Northern  armies  from  her  territory,  where  they  had 
been  employed  all  that  time  in  breaking  up  railroads, 
burning  cotton  and  cotton  presses,  and  destroying  manu 
facturing  establishments,  and  storehouses  of  all  that  could 
sustain  a  war;  the  recovery  of  all  who  were  left  of  their 
friends,  to  their  own  homes  and  to  their  support  and  com- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  401 

fort,  was  lifting  a  crushing  load  from  all  their  hearts,  and 
doing  more  to  make  them  give  up  the  lost  cause  than  any 
number  cf  future  defeats  and  losses  could  have  done. 
While  the  joy  of  the  North  was  equally  great  in  welcoming 
home  their  friends,  in  addition  to  the  satisfaction  of  having 
saved  the^Jnion,  and  forever  disposed  of  slavery,  as  well  as 
of  having  secured  a  new  lease  of  life  to  the  only  successful 
experiment  of  a  "  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,"  and  preventing  its  perishing  from 
the  earth. 

There  was  one  alloy  in  the  general  satisfaction  afforded 
by  the   surrender  of   Lee   and   Johnston, — the   regret   of 
General    Sherman's    friends    over    his   mistake,  and   the 
unjustly  severe  censure  of    it  by  the  government  and  a 
portion  of  the  press.     He  acknowledges  his  mistake  in  a 
letter  to  Secretary  Stanton,  and  excuses  it  by  the  necessi 
ties  of  the  case  and  anxiety  to  promote  the  best  feeling  at 
the  South,  without  practically  changing  the  result.     "I 
admit  my  folly  in  embracing  in  a  military  convention  any 
civil  matters ;  but,  unfortunately,  such  is  the  nature  of  our 
situation  that  they  seem  inextricably  united,  and   I  under 
stood  from  you  at  Savannah  that  the  financial  state  of  the 
country  demanded  military  success,  and  would  warrant  a 
a  little  bending  to  policy.     When  I  had  my  conference  with 
General  Johnston,  I  had  the  public  example  before  me  of 
General  Grant's  terms  to  Lee's  army,  and  General  WeitzePs 
invitation  to  the  Virginia  Legislature  to  assemble  at  Rich 
mond.     I  still  believe  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States  has  made  a  mistake,  but  that  is  none  of  my  business. 
Mine  is  a  different  task,  and  I  had  flattered  myself  that 
by  four  years  of  patient,  unremitted  and  successful  labor,  I 
deserved  no  reminder  such  as  is  contained  in  the  last  para 
graph  of  your  letter  to  General  Grant."     He  was  for  the 
time  removed  from  his  command,  and  it  is  to  be  noticed 
that  General  Schofield,  instead  of  himself,  received  John- 


402  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

stem's  surrender.  The  following  representation  of  this 
matter  has  appeared  recently  in  the  newspapers,*  from  Mr. 
George  C.  Gorham,  the  custodian  of  Secretary  Stanton's 
private  papers  and  his  biographer.  He  presents  that  side 
of  the  subject,  and  justifies  as  well  as  does  honor  to  the 
rare  ability  and  sturdy  patriotism  of  Mr.  Stanton.  Still  it 
is  to  be  said  that  General  Sherman  only  made  the  same 
mistake  which  President  Lincoln  made  when  he  gave  per 
mission  for  the  Virginia  Legislature  to  be  called  together 
to  have  a  hand  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  government, 
a  mistake  most  likely  which  Mr.  Stanton  convinced  him  of, 
and  led  him  to  withdraw  that  permission,  and  refuse  to 
give  it  to  General  Sherman.  Besides,  he  knew  that  his 
terms  of  surrender  to  Johnston  must  first  be  approved  of 
by  our  government,  and  might  be '  set  aside,  as  they  were, 
and  Johnston,  like  Lee,  required  to  surrender  uncondition 
ally.  Mr.  Gorham  said,  in  conclusion,  he  honored  and  ad 
mired  General  Sherman  and  enjoyed  his  friendship;  that  no 
more  patriotic  American,  no  braver  or  more  faithful  soldier 
ever  lived.  But  he  also  honored  and  admired  Mr.  Stanton, 
and  he  could  not  remain  silent  when  one  of  the  greatest  and 
wisest  of  his  official  acts  was  misstated  and  perverted  in  a 
useless  effort  to  show  that  General  Sherman  was  right, 
when  he  himself  admitted  that  he  was  wrong.  It  is  only 
to  be  regretted  these  two  men — the  one  ranking  so  high  in 
the  field  and  the  other  in  the  Cabinet,  and  going  down  to 
gether  in  history  as  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  that 
long,  dark  night — should  have  had  such  a  personal  quarrel 
over  this  matter,  though  General  Sherman  was  afterwards 
restored  to  his  command  in  the  army,  and  both  lived  long 
enough  to  enjoy  the  well-nigh  unqualified  admiration  of 
their  countrymen. 

*  Springfield  Republican,  April  11,  1862. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

% 
ASSASSINATION  OP  MR.  LINCOLN. 

The  Conspirators  and  Crime — Their  Trial  and  Punishment — Effect 
Upon  the  Nation — Testimonials  of  Respect  and  Grief — The 
Funeral  Procession  to  His  Burial  Place — Strange  Tribute  from 
the  World's  Great  Caricaturist. 

The  relief  of  the  South  and  the  joy  of  the  North,  which 
have  been  spoken  of,  had  not  reached  their  height,  for  it 
was  between  the  surrender  of  General  Lee  and  the  sur 
render  of  General  Johnston,  that  the  saddest  and  most 
critical  event  of  the  war  occurred — the  assassination  of 
Mr.  Lincoln. 

The  plot,  the  conspirators  and  the  transaction,  were  as 
follows :  It  was  proposed  not  only  to  kill  the  President, 
but  all  his  Cabinet,  and  General  Grant,  who  was  expected 
to  be  with  him  at  the  time.  It  was  to  be  done  when 
General  Grant's  masterly  conduct  of  the  war  was  just 
being  successfully  finished,  and  when  there  was  no  other 
man  in  the  land  who  had  both  at  the  South  and  at  the  North 
such  confidence  placed  in  his  wisdom  and  kindness,  as  Mr. 
Lincoln.  And  then  as  General  Sherman  feared  at  Raleigh, 
that  such  an  atrocity  would  demoralize  his  army,  and  lead 
to  such  ravages  as  would  make  the  war  break  out  afresh, 
and  with  more  of  personal  vindictiveness;  so  we  all  stood 
aghast  and  cried  more  fervently  than  ever  to  heaven  for 
help. 

Booth,  the  leading  conspirator,  belonged  to  the  distin 
guished  family  of  actors  of  this  name.  He  was  an  ardent 
Secessionist,  and  proud  of  the  part  he  took  in  the  arrest 


404  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  execution  of  John  Brown.  He  had  become  "stage 
struck"  about  playing  the  part  of  another  Brutus,  and 
with  '•  mock-heroic  "  acting,  expected  to  fire  the  Southern 
heart  with  new  desperation  in  their  struggle,  and  appall  the 
North  by  sweeping  away  at  once,  the  President,  the  Vice- 
President,  the  Cabinet  and  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  all 
our  armies.  After  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  fatal 
to  the  success  of  the  Secession  movement,  he  visited 
Canada,  to  plan  with  sympathizers  there,  the  capture  of  the 
President,  and  deliver  him  a  prisoner  at  Richmond.  On 
the  4th  of  March,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated, 
Booth  was  there  and  created  some  disturbance  because  he 
was  kept  back  in  the  crowd,  where  he  said  he  lost  an  ex 
cellent  chance  of  killing  the  President  then.  But  when 
Lee  surrendered,  if  anything  was  ever  done  to  relieve  the 
South,  it  could  be  delayed  no  longer.  "  For  six  months," 
he  said,  "  we  have  worked  to  capture,  but  our  cause  being 
lost,  something  decisive  and  great  must  be  done."  So  when 
the  President  had  returned  from  the  front,  where  he  could 
be  in  conference  with  Grant  during  that  critical  period,  and 
after  he  had  visited  the  deserted  and  half-burnt  Confederate 
capital,  and  it  was  found  that,  with  his  family  and  General 
Grant  and  a  few  friends,  he  was  to  divert  himself  from  the 
cares  of  State  by  an  evening  at  the  theatre,  the  conspira 
tors,  who  all  had  their  several  parts  assigned  them,  were 
summoned  to  their  work. 

On  the  evening  of  April  14,  1865,  President  Lincoln 
occupied  a  box  at  Ford's  theatre.  There  he  was  shot  by 
Wilkes  Booth,  who  entered  the  box,  having  previously 
fastened  an  outer  door  to  guard  against  interruption.  He 
fired  from  behind,  placing  the  pistol  almost  against  the 
head  of  the  President,  who  fell  forward  unconscious.  Booth 
dropped  the  pistol,  and  as  Major  Rathbone,  one  of  the  party 
in  the  box  reached  toward  him,  struck  savagely  at  him  with 
a  knife,  and  leaped  from  the  box  to  the  stage.  His  spur 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  405 

caught  in  the  flag  with  which  the  box  was  draped,  and  he 
fell  heavily,  but  recovering  himself,  stopped  to  cry :  "  Sic 
semper  tyrannis"  dashed  across  the  stage,  and  out  where  a 
horse  was  waiting  for  him,  and  for  the  time  escaped.  In 
his  fall  he  had  broken  his  leg,  but  this  hardly  checked  him. 
He  was  followed,  overtaken  in  Maryland,  and  stood  at  bay 
in  a  barn.  He  refused  to  surrender,  the  barn  was  fired  and 
he  was  shot  by  one  of  the  soldiers.  The  plot  miscarried  as 
to  the  other  intended  victims,  except  Mr.  Seward,  who  was 
dangerously  wounded  in  the  leg,  as  he  lay  sick  in  bed.  The 
conspiracy  was  afterwards  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
court,  and  four  persons  were  hanged,  Herold,  Atzerodt, 
Payne,  and  Mrs.  Suratt.  Four  others  were  imprisoned  for 
six  years,  or  for  life. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  shot  a  few  minutes  after  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  He  scarcely  moved,  his  head  drooped  forward 
slightly,  his  eyes  closed.  He  was  carried  to  a  house  across  the 
street,  and  laid  upon  a  bed  in  a  small  room  at  the  rear  of  the 
hall,  on  the  ground  floor.  A  hasty  examination  by  the  sur 
geons  showed  at  once  that  his  wound  was  mortal.  A  large 
derringer  bullet  had  entered  the  back  of  his  head  on  the  left 
side,  and  passing  through  the  brain  had  lodged  just  behind 
the  left  eye.  Mrs.  Lincoln  soon  reached  him,  and  he  was 
tenderly  cared  for,  but  there  was  no  hope.  He  was  uncon 
scious,  of  course,  from  the  first  moment ;  but  he  breathed 
with  slow  and  regular  respiration  throughout  the  night. 
As  the  dawn  came,  and  the  lamplight  grew  pale  in  the 
fresher  beams,  his  pulse  began  to  fail ;  but  his  face  even 
then  was  scarcely  more  haggard  than  those  of  the  sorrow 
ing  group  of  statesmen  and  generals  around  him.  His 
automatic  moaning,  which  had  continued  through  the 
night,  ceased ;  a  look  of  unspeakable  peace  came  upon  his 
worn  features.  At  twenty-two  minutes  after  seven  he  died. 
Stanton  broke  the  silence  by  saying,  "  Now  he  belongs  to 
the  ages."  Dr.  Gurley  kneeled  by  the  bedside  and  prayed 


406  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

fervently.  The  widow  came  in  from  the  adjoining  room, 
supported  by  her  son,  and  cast  herself  with  loud  outcry  on 
the  dead  body.  ("History  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Vol.  X, 
pp.  289-302.) 

So  died  our  good  President,  without  knowing  who  killed 
him.  And  his  assassins  no  more  realized  that  they  were 
killing  their  best  friend,  than  the  Jews  knew  they  were 
murdering  their  Saviour  when  they  crucified  Christ.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  one  of  the  most  tender-hearted  and  generous 
of  men,  even  toward  his  bitterest  enemies.  He  had  just 
expressed,  in  his  second  inaugural  address,  what  nobody 
could  doubt,  after  his  first  administration  of  the  govern 
ment,  were  the  real  sentiments  of  his  heart.  "  With  malice 
toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the 
right  as  God  gives  me  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  to 
finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds, 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphan,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves,  and  with 
all  nations."  When  the  terms  of  Lee's  surrender  were 
under  consideration,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for  making  them  as 
easy  as  possible,  and  was  constrained  by  his  Cabinet  to 
recall  some  of  the  concessions  he  was  making  to  the 
Confederate  States  to  reorganize  themselves  under  their 
Confederate  State  governments.  The  very  day  of  his 
death,  when  the  reconstruction  of  the  government  was 
under  consideration  in  the  Cabinet,  he  was  very  desirous 
of  avoiding  the  shedding  any  more  blood,  or  the  infliction 
of  vindictive  punishments.  "  No  one  need  expect  me  to 
take  any  part  in  hanging  or  killing  these  men,  even  the 
worst  of  them.  Frighten  them  out  of  the  country,  open 
the  gates,  let  down  the  bars,  scare  them  off,"  he  said, 
throwing  up  his  hands  as  if  scaring  sheep.  "  Enough 
lives  have  been  sacrificed,  we  must  extinguish  our  resent 
ments  if  we  expect  harmony  and  union." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  407 

When  he  fell,  what  a  wave  of  awe  and  grief  swept  over 
the  land.  It  was  like  some  great  convulsion  of  nature. 
What  is  to  come  next?  And  what  shall  we  do  without  our 
trusted  leader  ?  The  extent  of  the  plot  to  break  up  the 
government  by  any  violence  was  not  known,  and  the  repe 
tition  of  it  was  to  be  feared  any  moment.  This  is  illus 
trated  by  one  of  the  incidents  of  the  times,  as  connected 
with  Governor  Buckingham,  and  well  remembered  in  Nor 
wich,  his  home.  When  the  news  reached  the  place,  and 
such  a  rumor  flew  abroad,  the  people,  as  they  do  in  earth 
quake  countries,  instinctively  rushed  into  the  streets. 
There  they  met  the  Governor,  and,  flocking  about  him, 
asked,  "What  shall  we  do  now?"  Struggling  with  his 
own  grief  and  wiping  away  his  tears,  he  could  only  tell 
them,  "  God  lives,  and  having  so  far  helped  us,  we  trust 
he  will  not  forsake  us  now."  And  bethinking  himself 
of  what  might  be  the  danger  at  Washington,  he  called 
Colonel  Selden,  his  secretary,  and  one  of  his  military  offi 
cers,  and  gave  him  the  order  to  take  a  dozen  or  fifteen  of 
the  most  reliable  citizens,  arm  them,  and  convey  Senator 
Foster  safely  to  Washington.  Senator  Foster  was  president 
pro  tern  of  the  Senate,  and  if  V ice-President  Johnson  had 
been  assassinated  as  well  as  Mr.  Lincoln,  Senator  Foster 
would  have  been  sworn  into  the  office  of  President.  This 
order  was  faithfully  carried  out,  though  the  Vice-President, 
having  escaped  with  his  life,  was  immediately  inaugurated 
as  Mr.  Lincoln's  successor. 

Then  the  nation  gave  way  to  its  lamentations,  and  made 
up  that  funeral  train  which  bore  its  dead  half  across  the 
continent  and  seemed  more  than  anything  else  like  Joseph's 
burial  of  his  father,  when  he  carried  him  down  into  Canaan 
with  all  the  devotion  of  a  child,  and  all  the  pomp  of  an  Egyp 
tian  funeral,  and  the  Canaanites  ever  after  called  the  place  of 
his  burial,  "The  mourning  of  the  Egyptians."  After  the 
funeral  services  at  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln's  remains  were 


408  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

taken  back  to  his  home  in  Illinois, every  town  on  the  route  beg 
ging  that  the  train  might  stop  within  its  limits  and  give  the 
people  the  opportunity  of  looking  upon  that  face  once  more. 
As  far  as  possible,  this  request  was  granted,  and  it  was 
arranged  that  the  route  should  be  substantially  that  by 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  come  to  Washington  in  1861. 
Everywhere  the  most  touching  tokens  of  loving  remem 
brance  came  alike  from  the  rich  and  the  poor,  and  the  fur 
ther  west  the  train  went,  it  was  noticeable  that  these  manifes 
tations  became  the  more  general  and  striking,  as  if  he  was 
one  of  their  parentage  and  training.  The  towns  and  cities 
made  their  formal  preparations  and  showed  all  honor  to  the 
memory  of  the  President,  who  had  been  a  hero  in  dark  days 
and  became  a  martyr.  But  it  was  the  humblest  people, 
and  from  the  remotest  places,  who  crowded  around  his  bier 
and  wept  the  bitterest  tears  over  their  "  good  President," 
and  made  it  more  impressive  than  any  royal  funeral. 

A  guard  of  honor,  consisting  of  a  dozen  officers  of  high  rank  in  the 
array  and  navy,  had  been  detailed  by  their  respective  departments, 
which  received  the  remains  of  the  President  at  the  station  in  Wash 
ington,  at  8  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  the  21st  of  April,  and 
the  train,  decked  in  somber  trappings,  moved  out  toward  Baltimore. 
In  this  city,  through  which,  four  years  before,  it  was  a  question 
whether  the  President-elect  could  pass  with  safety  to  his  life,  the 
train  made  a  halt,  the  coffin  was  taken  with  sacred  care  to  the  great 
dome  of  the  Exchange,  and  there,  surrounded  by  evergreens  and 
lilies,  it  lay  for  several  hours,  the  people  passing  by  in  mournful 
throngs.  Night  was  closing  in,  with  rain  and  wind,  when  the  train 
reached  Harrisburg,  and  the  coffin  was  carried  through  the  muddy 
streets  to  the  State  Capitol,  when  the  next  morning  the  same  scenes 
of  grief  and  affection  were  seen.  We  need  not  enumerate  the  many 
stopping  places  of  this  dolorous  pageant.  The  same  demonstration 
was  repeated,  gaining  continually  in  intensity  of  feeling  and  solemn 
splendor  of  display,  in  every  city  through  which  the  procession 
passed.  At  Philadelphia,  a  vast  concourse  accompanied  the  dead 
President  to  Independence  Hall;  he  had  shown  himself  worthy  of  the 
lofty  fate  he  courted  when  on  that  hallowed  spot,  on  the  birthday  of 
Washington,  1861,  he  said  he  would  rather  be  assassinated  than  give 
up  the  principles  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  409 

Here,  as  at  many  other  places,  the  most  touching  manifestations  of 
loving  remembrance  came  from  the  poor,  who  brought  flowers  twined 
by  themselves,  to  lay  upon  the  coffin.  The  reception  at  New  York 
was  worthy  alike  of  the  great  city  and  of  the  memory  of  the  man  they 
honored.  The  body  lay  in  state  in  the  City  Hall,  and  a  half-million 
of  people  passed  in  deep  silence  before  it.  Here  General  Scott  came, 
pale  and  feeble,  but  resolute,  to  pay  his  tribute  of  respect  to  his  de 
parted  friend  and  commander. 

The  train  went  up  the  Hudson  river  by  night,  and  at  every  town 
and  village  on  the  way  vast  crowds  were  revealed  in  waiting  by  the 
fitful  glare  of  torches;  dirges  and  hymns  were  sung  as  the  train 
moved  by.  Midnight  had  passed  when  the  coffin  was  borne  to  the 
Capitol  at  Albany,  yet  the  multitudes  rushed  in  as  if  it  was  day,  and 
for  twelve  hours  the  long  line  of  people  from  Northern  New  York 
and  the  neighboring  States  poured  through  the  room. 

Over  the  broad  spaces  of  New  York  the  cortage  made  its  way, 
through  one  continuous  crowd  of  mourners.  At  Syracuse  30,000 
people  came  out  in  the  storm  at  midnight  to  greet  the  passing  train 
with  fires  and  bells  and  cannons;  at  Rochester  the  same  observances 
made  the  night  memorable ;  at  Buffalo,  it  was  now  the  morning  of  the 
27th,  and  the  body  lay  in  state  at  St.  James  Hall,  visited  by  a  multitude 
from  the  western  counties.  As  the  train  passed  into  Ohio  the  crowds 
increased  in  density,  and  the  public  grief  seemed  intensified  at  every 
step  westward;  the  people  of  the  great  central  basin  seemed  to  be 
claiming  their  own.  The  day  spent  at  Cleveland  was  unexampled  in 
the  depth  of  emotion  it  brought  to  life,  the  warm  devotion  which 
was  exhibited  to  the  memory  of  the  great  man  gone ;  some  of  the  guard 
of  honor  have  said,  that  it  was  at  that  point  they  began  to  appreciate 
the  place  which  Lincoln  was  to  hold  in  history.  The  authorities,  see 
ing  that  no  building  could  accommodate  the  crowd  which  was  sure 
to  come  from  all  over  the  State,  wisely  erected  in  the  public  square 
an  imposing  mortuary  tabernacle  for  the  lying  in  state,  brilliant  with 
evergreens  and  flowers  by  day,  and  innumerable  gas  jets  by  night, 
and  surmounted  by  the  inscription,  Extinctus  amabitur  idem.  Im 
pressive  religious  ceremonies  were  conducted  in  the  square  by  Bishop 
Macllvaine,  and  an  immense  procession  moved  to  the  station  at  night 
between  two  lines  of  torchlights.  Columbus  and  Indianapolis,  the 
State  capitals  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  were  next  visited.  The  whole 
State,  in  each  case,  seemed  gathered  to  meet  their  dead  hero;  an  in 
tense  personal  regard  was  everywhere  evident;  it  was  the  man,  and 
not  the  ruler,  they  appeared  to  be  celebrating;  the  banners  and  scrolls 
bore  principally  his  own  words:  "With  malice  toward  none,  with 
charity  for  all;"  "The  purposes  of  the  Lord  are  perfect  and  must 
prevail;"  "  Here  highly  resolved  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  lived 
in  vain,"  and  other  brief  passages  from  his  writings.  On  arriving  in 


410  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Chicago,  on  the  1st  of  May,  amid  a  scene  of  magnificent  mourning  the 
body  was  bourne  to  the  Courthouse,  where  it  lay  for  two  days  under 
a  canopy  of  somber  richness,  inscribed  with  that  noble  Hebrew 
lament,  "  The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain  rryon  thy  high  places."  From 
all  the  States  of  the  Northwest  an  innumerable  throng  poured  for 
these  two  days  into  Chicago,  and  flowed  a  mighty  stream  of  hu 
manity,  past  the  coffin  of  the  dead  President,  in  the  midst  of  evi 
dences  of  deep  and  universal  grief,  which  was  all  the  more  genuine 
for  being  quiet  and  reserved. 

The  last  stage  of  this  extraordinary  progress  was  the  journey  to 
Springfield,  which  began  on  the  night  of  the  2d  of  May  and  ended 
at  9  o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  schedule  made  in  Washington 
twelve  days  before  having  been  accurately  carried  out.  On  alAhe 
railroads  centering  in  Springfield  the  trains  for  several  days  had  been 
crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity  with  people  who  desired  to  see  the 
last  of  Abraham  Lincoln  upon  earth.  Nothing  had  been  done  or 
thought  of  for  two  weeks  in  Springfield  but  the  preparations  for  this 
day.  They  were  made  with  a  thoroughness  which  surprised  the  visi 
tors  from  the  East.  The  body  lay  in  state  in  the  Capitol,  which  was 
richly  draped  from  roof  to  basement  in  black  velvet  and  silver  fringe; 
within  it  was  a  bower  of  bloom  and  fragrance.  For  twenty-four 
hours  an  unbroken  stream  of  people  passed  through,  bidding  their 
friend  and  neighbor  welcome  home  and  farewell,  and  at  10  o'clock 
the  4th  of  May,  the  coffin  lid  was  closed  at  last.  A  vast  procession 
moved  out  to  Oak  Ridge,  where  the  dead  President  was  committed  to 
the  soil  of  the  State  which  had  so  loved  and  honored  him.  The  cere 
monies  at  the  grave  were  simple  and  touching.  Bishop  Simpson 
delivered  a  pathetic  oration,  prayers  were  offered  and  hymns  sung, 
but  the  weightiest  and  most  eloquent  words  uttered  anywhere  that 
day  were  those  of  the  second  inaugural,  which  the  committee  had 
wisely  ordained  to  be  read  over  his  grave,  as  the  friends  of  Raphael 
chose  the  incomparable  canvas  of  "The  Transfiguration"  as  the 
chief  ornament  of  his  funeral.— ["  History  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Vol 
JT,  pp.  319-324. 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  upon  the  South  was  not 
seen  at  first,  but  came  later.  While  some,  like  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Confederacy,  were  disposed  to  regard  it  as  good 
luck  to  a  failing  cause,  which  might  save  it,  they  soon 
found,  when  reconstruction  came  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  unreli 
able  successor  came  into  office,  that  his  kind  heart  and 
wonderful  wisdom  were  what  they  most  needed.  And  few 
Bincerer  regrets,  or  higher  tributes  of  praise,  came  from 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  411 

any  quarter  than  from  that.  They  came  to  join  in  the 
country's  grief,  and  the  world's  honor,  of  that  remarkable 
character  which  Providence  had  raised  up  for  his  mission, 
and  so  inexplicably  removed  the  moment  his  work  was 
finished.  There  is  no  other  character  like  his  in  all  our 
strange  history,  and  no  other  work  like  his  in  the  world's 
history.  And  among  all  the  tributes  paid  him  at  his 
death,  there  was  none  nobler,  certainly  none  so  unexpected, 
as  the  one  which  came  from  the  world's  great  caricaturist, 
the  editor  of  London  Punch.  If  we  could  have  known 
at  the  time,  what  was  discovered  afterwards,  that  the  leer 
ing,  jeering  spirit  of  fun,  which  had  taken  no  end  of  satis 
faction  in  ridiculing  the  rugged  face,  the  tall,  gaunt  form 
and  awkward  manners  of  Lincoln,  had  been  conscience 
smitten  for  his  crime,  and  was  following  that  funeral  train 
like  a  barefooted  monk,  crowding  up  to  that  bier  as  to  a 
holy  shrine,  and  pouring  out  its  penitence  and  prayers  for 
the  dead,  and  in  that  guise  was  atoning  for  its  sins — if  it 
had  not  been  that  John  Leech  himself  told  us,  that  this 
was  the  way  in  which  he  chose  to  make  his  acknowledg 
ment,  and  right  the  wrong  he  had  done  this  great,  good 
man — we  never  could  have  expected  such  remorse  within 
the  privileged  field  of  caricature,  or  had  such  admiration 
for  one  of  the  profession. 

TRIBUTE  TO  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

You!  lay  a  wreath  on  murdered  Lincoln's  bier! 

You !  who  with  mocking  pencil  wont  to  trace 
Broad  for  the  self-complacent  British  sneer, 

His  length  of  shambling  limb,  his  furrowed  face, 

His  gaunt,  gnarled  hands,  his  unkempt,  bristling  hair, 

His  garb  uncouth,  his  bearing  ill  at  ease, 
His  lack  of  all  we  prize  as  debonair, 

Of  power  or  will  to  shine,  or  art  to  please ! 

You!  whose  smart  pen,  backed  by  the  pencil's  laugh, 
Judging  each  step  as  though  the  way  was  plain, 


412  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Reckless,  so  it  could  point  its  paragraph 
Of  chief's  perplexity,  of  people's  pain — 

Beside  the  corpse,  that  bears  for  winding  sheet 
The  stars  and  stripes  he  had  to  rear  anew, 

Between  the  mourners  at  his  head  and  feet, 
Say !  scurrile  jester,  is  there  room  for  you? 

Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer; 

To  lame  my  pencil,  and  confute  my  pen; 
To  make  me  own  this  mind  of  princes  peer; 

This  rail-splitter,  a  true-born  king  of  men. 

My  shallow  judgment  I  have  learned  to  rue, 
Noting  how  to  occasion's  hight  he  rose, 

How  his  quaint  wit  made  home  truth  seem  more  true, 
How  iron-like  his  temper  grew  by  blows; 

How  humble,  yet  how  hopeful  he  could  be; 

How  in  good  fortune,  and  in  ill  the  same; 
Nor  bitter  in  success,  nor  boastful  he ; 

Thirsty  for  gold,  nor  feverish  for  fame. 

He  went  about  his  work — such  work  as  few 

Ever  had  laid  on  head,  and  heart,  and  hand- 
As  one  who  knows  when  there's  a  task  to  do, 
Man's  honest  will  will  heaven's  good  grace  command. 

Who  trusts  the  strength,  will  with  the  burden  grow, 
That  God  makes  instruments  to  work  his  will, 

If  but  that  will  one  can  arrive  to  know, 
Nor  tamper  with  the  weights  of  good  and  ill. 

So  he  went  forth  to  battle  on  the  side 
That  he  felt  clear  was  Liberty's  and  Right's, 

As  in  his  peasant  boyhood  he  had  plied 

His  warfare  with  rude  nature's  thwarting  mights. 

The  uncleared  forest,  the  unbroken  soil, 
The  iron  bark  that  turns  the  lumber's  axe, 

The  rapid  that  o'erbears  the  boatman's  toil, 
The  prairie  hiding  the  mazed  wanderer's  track, 

The  ambushed  Indian,  and  the  prowling  bear; 
Such  were  the  needs  that  helped  his  youth  to  train — 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  413 

Rough  culture ;  but  such  trees  large  fruit  may  bear, 
If  but  their  stocks  be  of  right  girth  and  grain. 

So  he  grew  up  a  destined  work  to  do, 
And  lived  to  do  it — four  long  suffering  years— 

Ill-fate,  ill-feeling,  ill-report  lived  through, 
And  then  he  heard  the  hisses  changed  to  cheers. 

The  taunt  to  tribute,  the  abuse  to  praise, 
And  took  both  with  the  same  unwavering  mood, 

Till,  as  he  came  on  light  from  darkling  days, 
And  seemed  to  touch  the  goal  from  where  he  stood, 

A  felon  hand,  between  the  goal  and  him, 
Reached  from  behind  his  back;  a  trigger  pressed; 

And  those  perplexed  and  patient  eyes  were  dim, 
Those  gaunt,  long,  laboring  limbs  were  laid  to  rest. 

The  words  of  mercy  were  upon  his  lips; 

Forgiveness  in  his  heart  and  on  his  pen ; 
When  this  vile  murderer  brought  swift  eclipse 

To  thoughts  of  "  Peace  on  earth;  good  will  to  men." 

The  old  world  and  the  new,  from  sea  to  sea, 

Utter  one  voice  of  sympathy  and  shame! 
Sore  heart  I  so  stopped  when  it  at  last  beat  high! 

Sad  life !  cut  short  just  as  its  triumph  came. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

THE  WAR  OVER. 

The  Cost  of  the  War— Measures  Taken  to  Stop  the  Expenses — Grand 
Review  and  Disbandment  of  the  Army  —  Difference  Between 
Eastern  and  Western  Troops — Equal  Tributes  Paid  to  Both  by 
their  Two  Great  Commanders. 

The  war  was  now  over,  and  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  stop  the  military  expenses,  disband  the  army,  and 
scatter  the  navy.  When  Lee  surrendered,  and  Richmond 
was  evacuated,  General  Grant  did  not  enter  the  city,  but 
hurried  off  to  Washington  to  stop  enlistments  for  the  army 
and  navy,  and  supplies  for  both,  which  for  four  years  had 
seemed  such  a  bottomless  sea  of  waste  for  the  resources  of 
any  nation. 

The  cost  of  supporting  the  great  armies  and  fleets  used  in  the  Civil 
War,  is  shown  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  national  debt,  which  was 
in  1800,  June  30,  $64,769,703;  1861,  June  30,  $90,867,828;  1862,  June  30, 
$514,211,371;  1863,  June  30,  $1,097,274,360;  1864,  June 30,  $1,740,036,689; 
1865,  March  31,  $2,423,437,001;  1866,  January  1,  $2,749,491,745. 

As  to  this  statement,  Draper's  "Civil  War"  says: 
"  The  great  increase  indicated  by  the  last  item,  apparently 
after  the  war  was  over,  was  due  to  the  paying  off  of  the 
troops  and  the  settlement  of  outstanding  bills.  Such  was 
the  debt,  but  to  it  should  be  added  the  sums  expended  by 
individual  States,  and  local  bodies,  in  raising  and  fitting 
out  their  several  contingents.  The  total  rises  above 
$4,000,000,000.  Bounties  were  paid  to  the  amount  of  about 
$200,000,000,  and  about  $100,000,000  more  to  the  families 
of  absent  and  deceased  soldiers." 

The  same  authority  says,  as  to  numbers  of  men  in 
the  field :— 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  415 

The  entire  force  called  into  the  national  service  during  the  war  was 
2,688,523  men.  Of  these  there  were  enlisted :  For  three  months,  191,985; 
for  six  months,  19,076;  for  nine  months,  87,558;  for  one  year,  394,959; 
for  two  years,  43,113;  for  three  years,  1,950,792;  for  four  years,  1,040; 
total,  2,688,523.  Many  of  these  were  mustered  in  more  than  once. 
Making  suitable  allowance  for  this,  and  other  necessary  deductions, 
it  may  be  concluded  that  about  1,500,000  soldiers  were  employed. 
Of  these,  56,000  were  killed  in  battle;  35,090  died  in  the  hospitals 
of  wounds;  185,000  died  in  the  hospitals  of  disease;  many  more 
died  subsequently;  and  the  health  of  still  more  was  irreparably 
broken  down. 

The  breadth  of  the  field  of  the  war,  extending  over  a 
territory  more  than  a  thousand  miles  square ;  the  ex 
tent  of  seacoast,  and  number  of  ports  to  be  blockaded ;  the 
important  part  which  railroads  were  to  have  in  all  its 
operations;  the  new  navy  which  had  to  be  created  both  for 
the  ocean  and  for  our  great  rivers  ;  and  the  very  arms,  from 
turreted  and  iron-clad  ships,  to  siege  guns,  breech  loaders 
and  repeating  rifles,  which  were  to  be  invented  and  manu 
factured  ;  explain  the  cost  of  such  military  operations. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  cutting  off  of  the  outlay 
for  recruits  and  supplies,  and  the  support  of  the  armies  in 
the  field,  came  the  disbandment  of  the  great  forces,  which 
had  for  years  been  withdrawn  from  civil  life  and  were  now 
to  return  to  it.  The  greater  part  of  the  men  were  quickly 
mustered  out  wherever  they  happened  to  be.  but  Sherman's 
army  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  General  Meade, 
and  that  of  the  James  under  General  terry,  were  assembled 
at  Washington,  and  there  200,000  veterans  marched  in  the 
never-to-be-forgotton  review  of  May  23  and  24.  Tuesday, 
the  first  day,  was  devoted  to  the  review  of  the  Eastern 
troops.  The  President  and  Cabinet  occupied  a  stand  along 
the  line  of  march,  while  General  Grant  and  his  staff  led  the 
procession,  with  General  Meade  leading  the  Potomac  army, 
and  General  Terry  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  James, 
with  the  several  commanders  in  place.  The  next  day, 
Wednesday,  the  24th,  was  equally  beautiful  as  to  weather, 


416  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

and  quite  as  interesting  and  imposing  in  its  pageantry. 
General  Sherman  thus  describes  it : — 

The  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth  and  Twentieth  Corps  closed  up  to  the 
bridge.    The  morning  was  extremely  beautiful,  and  the  ground  was 
in  splendid  order  for  a  review.     The  streets  were  filled  with  people 
to  see  the  pageant,  armed  with  bouquets  for  their  favorite  regiments 
or  heroes,  and  everything  was  propitious.    Punctually  at  9  A.  M.  the 
signal  gun  was  tired,  when  in  person,  attended  by  General  Howard 
and  all  my  staff,  I  rode  slowly  down  Pennsylvania  avenue,  the  crowds 
of    men,    women,   and   children  densely  lining  the   sidewalks,   and 
almost  obstructing  the  way.     We   were  followed  close  by  General 
Logan,  and  the  head  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps.     When  I  reached  the 
Treasury  building  and  looked  back,  the  sight  was  simply  magnificent. 
The  column  was  compact,  and  the  glittering  muskets  looked  like  a 
solid  mass  of  steel,  moving  with  the  regularity  of  a  pendulum.     We 
passed  the  Treasury  building,  in  front  of  which  and  of  the  White 
House  was  an  immense  throng  of  people,  for  whom  extensive  stands 
had  been  prepared  on  both  sides  of  the  avenue.    As  I  neared  the 
brick  house  on  the  lower  corner  of  Lafayette  square,  some  one  asked 
me  to  notice  Mr.  Seward,   who,  still  feeble  and  bandaged  for  his 
wounds,  had  been  removed  there  that  he  might  behold  the  troops.    I 
moved  in  that  direction  and  took  off  my  hat  to  Mr.  Seward,  who  sat 
at  an  upper  window.     He   recognized  the  salute,  returned   it,  and 
then  we  rode  on  steadily  past  the  President,  saluting  with  our  swords. 
All  on  this  stand  rose  and  acknowledged  the  salute.    Then  turning 
into  the  gate  of  the  presidential  grounds,  we  left  our  horses  with 
orderlies  and  went  upon  the  stand,  where  I  found  Mrs.  Sherman,  and 
her  father  and  son.     Passing  them,  I  shook  hands  with  General  Grant, 
and  each  member  of  the  Cabinet.     I  then  took  my  post  on  the  left  of 
the  President,  and  for  six  houj-s  and  a  half  stood  while  the  army  passed, 
in  the  order  of  the  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth,  Twentieth  and  Fourteenth 
Corps.  It  was,  in  my  judgment,  the  most  magnificent  army  in  existence 
—65,000  men  in  splendid  physique,  who  had  just  completed  a  march 
of  2,000  miles  in  a  hostile  country,  in  good  drill,  and  who  realized  that 
they  were  being  closely  scrutinized  by  thousands   of  their  fellow- 
countrymen  and  foreigners.      Division  after  division   passed,   each 
commander  of  an  army  corps  or  division  commander  on  the  stand 
during  the  passage  of  the  command  to  be  presented  to  the  President, 
Cabinet,  and  spectators.     The  steadiness  and  firmness  of  their  tread, 
the  careful  dress  of  the  guides,  the  uniform  intervals  between  the 
companies,  all  eyes  directed  to  the  front,  and  the  tattered  and  bullet- 
riven  flags  festooned  with   flowers,   all   attracted   universal  notice. 
Many  good  people  up  to  that  time  had  looked  upon  our  Western  army 
as  a  sort  of  mob,  but  the  world  then  saw  and  recognized  the  fact  that 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  417 

it  was  an  army  in  a  proper  sense,  well  organized,  well  commanded 
and  disciplined,  and  there  was  no  wonder  that  it  had  swept  through 
the  South  like  a  tornado.  For  six  and  a  half  hours  that  strong  tread 
of  the  Army  of  the  West  resounded  along  Pennsylvania  avenue;  not 
one  soul  of  that  crowd  of  spectators  left  his  place,  and  when  the  rear 
of  the  column  had  passed  by,  thousands  of  spectators  still  lingered 
to  express  their  sense  of  confidence  in  the  strength  of  a  government 
which  could  claim  such  an  army. — [General  Sherman's  "Personal 
Memoirs,"  Vol.  II,  p.  378. 

The   difference   between  Eastern   and   Western  armies, 
when  thus   brought   together,  is  pointed  out  by   General 
Grant,  while  their  equal  share  in  the  achievements  of  the 
war  is  so  impartially  assigned  them,  by  the  commander-in- 
chief  of   both,  as  to  take  away  all  jealousy  or  boasting 
from  either.     "Sherman's  army  made  a  different  appear 
ance  from  that  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.     The  latter 
had  been  operating  where  they  received  directly  from  the 
North  full  supplies  of  food  and  clothing  regularly.     The 
review  of  this  army,  therefore,  was  the  review  of  a  body  of 
well-drilled,  well-disciplined   and   orderly  soldiers,  unused 
to  hardship  and  fit  for  any  duty,  but  without  the  experience 
of  gathering  their  own  food  and  supplies  in  an  enemy's 
country,  and  of  being  ever  on  the  watch.     Sherman's  army 
was  not  so  well  dressed  as  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but 
their  marching  could  not  be  excelled  ;  they  gave  the  appear 
ance  of  men  who  had  been  thoroughly  drilled  to  endure 
hardships,  either  by  long  and  continuous  marches,  or  through 
exposure  to  any  climate  without  the  ordinary  shelter  of  a 
camp."     As  for  their  several  and  equal  services,   which 
went  to  make  up  the   result  of   the  war,  and  the  glory 
which  will  forever  be  attached  to  all   who  had  any  part 
in  those  achievements,  he  says,  in  his  final  report  to  the 
government  :— 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  see  the  armies  of  both  the  West  and  the 
East  fight  battles,  and  from  what  I  have  seen,  I  know  there  is  no 
difference  in  their  fighting  qualities.  All  that  was  possible  for  men 
to  do  in  battle,  they  have  done.  The  Western  armies  commenced 


418  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

their  battles  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  received  the  final  surrender 
of  the  principal  army  opposed  to  them  in  North  Carolina.  The 
armies  of  the  East  commenced  their  battles  on  the  river  from  which 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  derived  its  name,  and  received  the  final 
surrender  of  their  old  antagonists  at  Appomattox  Courthouse, 
Virginia.  The  splendid  achievements  of  each  have  nationalized  our 
victories,  removed  all  sectional  jealousies — of  which  we  have  unfortu 
nately  experienced  too  much — and  the  cause  of  crimination  and 
recrimination  that  might  have  followed  had  either  section  failed  in 
its  duty.  All  have  a  proud  record,  and  all  sections  can  well  congratu 
late  themselves  and  each  other  for  having  done  their  full  share  in  re 
storing  the  supremacy  of  law  over  every  foot  of  territory  belonging  to 
the  United  States.  Let  them  hope  for  perpetual  peace  and  harmony 
with  that  enemy,  whose  manhood,  however  mistaken  the  cause,  drew 
forth  such  herculean  deeds  of  valor. — ["Grant's  Memoirs,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  632. 

In  this  spirit  of  appreciation  of  each  other's  services,  and 
of  magnanimity  toward  the  South,  in  which  the  North  was 
fast  coming  to  appreciate  their  disadvantages,  and  the  deso 
lations  they  had  suffered  from  the  war,  the  review  closed. 
And  these  200,000,  who  represented  the  million  and  a  half 
of  men  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  service,  laid  by  their 
arms  and  uniforms  and  sank  back  into  their  citizenship 
again.  And  it  took  place  as  naturally  and  quietly  as  the 
snows  of  winter  melt  into  the  returning  spring  and  freshen 
the  verdure  which  is  to  hide  the  ravages  of  war. 

With  the  review  and  disbandment  of  our  armies,  and  the 
testimony  of  these  two  great  commanders  to  their  heroic 
qualities  and  equal  merits,  came  the  relief  and  satisfaction, 
both  to  the  South  and  of  the  North,  that  the  war  was  over. 
As  showing  what  this  state  of  feeling  was  at  the  capital  of 
the  Confederacy,  the  personal  observations  of  the  writer, 
soon  after  the  evacuation,  are  given  in  the  form  of  "  A  Visit 
to  Richmond."  A  photograph  of  Governor  Buckingham's 
hasty  letter  to  his  brother,  announcing  the  evacuation  of 
the  city,  and  its  being  first  occupied  by  some  of  his 
colored  troops,  is  also  given. 


L^1  tvzttt^ak  fJL   ly 


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h  dun    ^  Ay  uifl^-cA. 

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419 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
A  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND. 

Personal  Observations  in  the  City  Soon  After  its  Evacuation — The 
Temper  of  the  People — The  Disposition  to  Accept  the  Result  of 
the  War  and  Cultivate  Friendship. 

In  May,  1865,  a  month  or  six  weeks  after  the  city  fell 
into  our  possession,  the  writer  left  Springfield,  Mass.,  with 
a  dozen  friends,  to  find  out  what  we  could  of  the  condition 
of  things  there.  The  city  was  under  martial  law  and  full 
of  Confederate  prisoners  gathered  there  to  be  sent  by  our 
government  to  their  homes.  Not  only  were  these  prisoners 
fed  by  our  government,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
mostly  dependent  for  their  daily  bread  upon  the  same 
supply.  For  the  close  blockade  and  long  investment  of 
Richmond,  and  especially  the  blowing  up  by  the  Confed 
erate  commanders  before  they  left,  of  the  warehouses  and 
provision  depots  of  the  city,  and  the  destruction  of  the  rail 
road  bridges,  and  leaving  the  city  on  fire,  which  destroyed 
one-third  of  the  business  part  of  it,  left  the  inhabitants  as 
destitute  of  all  needful  supplies  as  can  well  be  conceived. 
The  best  residences,  and  such  as  had  not  been  reached  by 
the  fire,  had  evidently  not  been  repaired  or  painted  since 
the  war  began.  It  was  the  days  of  hoop  skirts  among  the 
ladies,  but  not  one  was  seen  there ;  they  were  not  manu 
factured  and  they  could  not  be  imported.  Their  clothing 
was  scanty  and  out  of  fashion,  showing  how  they  had 
suffered  in  this  respect.  It  was  enough  to  change  all  re 
sentment  into  pity,  to  witness  their  condition.  And  the 
fortitude  and  self-respect  with  which  the  people  bore  their 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  421 

humiliation,  and  the  freedom  with  which  they  consulted  us, 
as  to  what  could  be  done  for  their  relief,  won  our  highest 
respect. 

The  impression  among  them  at  first  was  that  our  party 
must  he  a  government  commission,  sent  to  get  information, 
or  to  regulate  affairs.  But  when  answered  that  we  had  no 
connection  with  the  government,  and  that  if  we  could  do 
anything  for  them  in  the  way  of  advice,  or  influence  with 
the  government,  we  were  ready  to  use  it,  they  gave  us  their 
confidence,  so  that  we  mingled  freely  with  the  citizens  and 
with  the  prisoners,  and  soon  found  that  a  visit  of  curiosity 
might  be  made  a  mission  of  helpfulness,  both  to  them  and 
to  the  government,  and  this  we  endeavored  to  make  it. 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  assassinated,  and  they  knew  they 
had  lost  their  best  friend.  Mr.  Johnson,  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  presidency,  they  feared, 
for  though  a  Southerner,  he  was  a  man  of  strong  preju 
dices  and  freakish  disposition.  "  What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  us,  now  that  you  have  conquered  us  ?  "  was  their 
inquiry.  "  We  have  done  all  we  could  to  have  a  separate 
government,  but  have  failed.  And  now  do  you  want  to 
shut  us  out  of  our  old  privileges  and  punish  us  all  you  can, 
or  will  you  make  us  citizens  again,  and  let  us  go  home,  and 
help  us  build  up  the  ruins  of  the  South  ? "  This,  we 
assured  them,  was  what  the  North  was  anxious  to  do,  and 
if  in  the  bitterness  of  the  strife  we  had  felt  revengeful,  it 
was  now  over,  and  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  General  Grant, 
and  General  Sherman,  we  only  wished  them  to  become  good 
citizens  again,  and  enjoy  greater  prosperity  than  they  had 
ever  known  under  the  old  Union.  The  easy  terms  of  sur 
render,  and  the  permission  given  to  their  officers  and 
soldiers  to  take  their  horses  and  mules,  and  to  begin  again 
the  cultivation  of  their  lands,  was  heartily  approved  of  by 
the  North.  And  if  they  would  allow  social  intercourse, 
and  Northern  business  to  come  in,  we  should  in  time 


422  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM, 

become  a  more  united  nation  than  we  ever  had  been,  and 
the  South  a  much  richer  portion  of  it.  Such  views  and 
feelings,  especially  in  such  circumstances,  were  not  likely 
to  encounter  much  opposition.  And  we  soon  found  our 
selves  with  opportunities  enough  for  helping  the  South 
and  helping  the  government. 

Several  ot  our  party  had  either  lived  in  Richmond  or 
been  there  on  business,  and  they  found  their  acquaintances 
glad  enough  to  see  them  and  get  the  benefit  of  their  advice. 
We  were  specially  invited  to  meet  one  evening  several  of 
the  principal  men  of  the  city,  and  talk  over  the  situation 
of  affairs.  The  question  with  them,  as  with  everybody, 
was  :  "  What  arc  you  going  to  do  with  us  ?  How  does  your 
government  propose  to  treat  us  V  And  what  can  we  do  on 
our  part  to  secure  the  most  favorable  treatment  ? "  All 
their  difficulties  were  frankly  stated,  and  their  fears  ex 
pressed.  They  were  under  martial  law.  They  were 
mostly  dependent  upon  the  government  for  daily  rations, 
and  some  member  of  those  old  Virginia  families,  often 
the  lady  of  the  house,  of  her  youthful  daughter,  at 
tended  by  her  colored  servant,  was  obliged  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  at  the  lips  of  some  young  lieu 
tenant,  as  the  only  condition  of  obtaining  aid,  while  her 
servant,  perhaps,  was  rejoicing  over  her  humiliation.  The 
property  of  the  city  was  virtually  confiscated  by  the  govern 
ment,  at  least  their  places  of  business  and  manufacturing 
establishments  were  closed,  and  work  stopped.  Those 
thousands  of  prisoners  who  were  being  gathered  into  the 
city  from  every  quarter  and  sent  off  as  fast  as  possible, 
made  it  impossible  that  ordinary  business  should  be  done 
there  for  a  long  time.  No  wonder  all  were  asking  for 
advice.  And  when,  at  that  first  conference,  the  whole  sub 
ject  was  opened  with  us,  we  were  glad  to  honor  their  confi 
dence  and  give  them  all  the  information  and  advice  that 
we  could  furnish.  As  for  information,  I  remember,  when 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  423 

the  Union  Pacific  railroad  happened  to  be  referred  to,  with 
what  surprise  and  incredulity  it  was  received,  for  they  had 
never  heard  of  it,  nor  were  their  papers  allowed  to  refer  to 
such  an  event,  so  important  to  the  North,  though  the  road 
was  then  half-way  across  the  continent.  Our  advice,  of 
course,  was  that  they  should  accept  the  situation  cheerfully, 
apply  for  the  removal  of  their  disabilities  and  the  restora 
tion  of  their  property,  and  as  good  citizens  help  us  restore 
the  Union  and  as  quickly  as  possible  repair  the  ravages  of 
the  war.  We  remember  that  one  of  their  number,  Gen 
eral  James  R.  Anderson,*  a  Confederate  officer,  a  graduate 
of  West  Point,  and  manager  of  the  Tredegar  Works, 
where  so  many  cannon  were  cast,  and  so  much  heavy  iron 
work  constructed  for  the  Confederate  service,  was  an  old 
acquaintance  of  some  of  our  party  in  the  way  of  business, 
and  came  to  consult  with  them  repeatedly  and  see  if  there 
was  no  way  in  which  he  could  recover  his  confiscated  works 
and  resume  his  business.  The  last  thing  he  did  when  we 
were  leaving  for  Washington  was  to  beg  us  to  go  to  General 
Dyer,  at  the  head  of  the  Ordnance  Department,  and  see  if 
his  works  could  not  be  restored  upon  some  terms.  In  con 
sidering  the  matter  among  ourselves,  it  was  suggested  that, 
as  he  was  a  man  to  be  depended  upon,  and  there  was  noth 
ing  the  government  needed  so  much  as  supporters  in  Rich 
mond,  it  might  well  afford  to  restore  his  property,  on  con 
dition  that  he  would  become  a  Union  man  and  be  the  leader 
and  nucleus  of  a  Union  party  in  that  city.  Representations 
to  this  effect  were  made  to  General  Dyer  at  Washington. 
His  property  was  soon  restored,  and,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
upon  some  such  terms. 

There  was  one  occurrence  during  this  visit  that  should 
be  mentioned  as  showing  the  respect  and  confidence  felt  for 
our  party,  in  that  peculiar  condition  of  the  community.  It 


*  General  Anderson  died  afc  the  Isle  of  Shoals,  N.  H.,  on  a  visit,  there  during  the 
summer  of  1892. 


424  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

was  a  meeting  we  were  allowed  to  hold  on  Sunday  evening 
in  the  large  and  famous  colored  church  of  the  city.  It  was 
a  regular  Baptist  church,  with  two  pastors,  one  white  and 
the  other  colored,  the  latter  to  suit  the  tastes  of  his  con 
gregation,  and  the  other  to  supervise  him  and  his  people. 
The  white  pastor  was  a  pronounced  and  un-reconstructed 
Secessionist,  and  probably  only  consented  to  such  a  meet 
ing  out  of  courtesy  to  us,  and  at  the  desire  of  his  people. 
The  arrangements  were  judiciously  made  and  carried  out 
and  meant  for  the  benefit  of  both  classes  of  the  population. 
It  so  happened  that  we  had  in  our  party  those  who  well 
understood  the  subjects  upon  which  they  spoke.  One  of 
them  was  a  civil  engineer,  president  of  a  railroad,  and 
largely  interested  in  works  of  construction,  so  that  he  knew 
what  was  for  the  interest  of  laboring  men,  and  had  done 
much  for  their  welfare.  He  told  how  many  of  this  class  of 
people  lived  at  the  North,  in  their  own  homes,  painted  and 
carpeted,  their  children  in  the  public  schools,  with  every 
opportunity  given  them  to  become  intelligent,  prosperous 
and  useful  citizens.  Another  of  the  party,  one  of  the 
"  Webster's  Dictionary  "  firm,  told  how  many  spelling  books 
and  school  books  of  various  kinds  they  published,  and  how 
rare  it  was  to  find  a  New  Englander  who  could  not  read 
books,  and  write  letters  and  keep  the  accounts  of  business ; 
and  how  such  education  gave  them  employment  and  good 
wages,  and  with  industry,  economy  and  sobriety,  improved 
their  condition.  One  or  two  of  us  were  clergymen,  and  it 
was  natural  for  us  to  speak  to  them  of  marriage,  and  of  the 
new  liberties  and  responsibilities  that  were  thrown  upon 
them  in  this  respect.  Their  reverence  for  the  Bible  we 
could  see  made  them  sensitive  to  its  teachings  upon  this 
subject,  and  we  could  not  help  feeling  that  with  their  new 
responsibilities  for  their  domestic  life,  and  this  book  always 
in  their  hands,  would  improve  their  homes  and  their  chil 
dren.  Of  course  others  gave  them  good  instruction  in  re- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  425 

gard  to  the  duties  they  owed  their  old  masters  and  society, 
and  the  country  of  which  they  were  eventually  to  become 
citizens.  And  remembering  what  the  North  had  done  for 
their  emancipation,  nothing  could  exceed  their  confidence 
in  us,  and  gratitude  for  our  interest  in  them.  It  was  cer 
tainly  a  very  remarkable  meeting — a  congregation  of  at 
least  1,000  emancipated  slaves,  and  in  that  community,  and 
in  such  a  condition  of  things,  probably  not  a  score  of  white 
people  among  them,  and  not  the  least  remarkable  feature  of 
it  was,  that  it  was  suffered,  and  stirred  neither  resentment 
nor  criticism,  unless  it  was  in  the  suppressed  utterances 
of  their  white  pastor. 

As  for  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  the  city,  poor  fellows, 
they  needed  and  were  glad  of  our  sympathy  and  encour 
agement.  They  had  been  compelled  to  serve  during  the 
war,  some  of  them  from  the  beginning,  and  were  going 
home,  they  hardly  knew  where,  or  to  what.  If  any  body 
needed  hope  and  help,  they  did,  and  they  were  grateful  for 
it.  We  gave  them  cheer,  we  gave  them  money,  we  sent 
them  home  with  the  knowledge  that  the  Yankees  were  not 
such  mean  and  heartless  people  as  they  once  supposed. 
The  soldiers  on  both  sides  had  learned  before  this  to  con 
fide  in  each  other's  humanity  and  honor.  It  was  the  home 
guards  and  guerrillas,  who  have  been  defined  as  "  peaceful 
citizens  by  day  and  Confederate  soldiers  at  night,"  whom 
they  feared  most.  And  more  or  less  of  these  men  went 
South,  assured  that  they  had  friends  at  the  North  who 
would  wish  the  government  to  be  considerate  of  them,  and 
support  any  policy  which  should  relieve  them  of  their  dis 
abilities,  and  help  to  build  up  their  business. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  General  Sherman's  army  passed 
through  Richmond,  after  their  "  march  to  the  sea,"  on 
their  way  to  Washington  for  the  grand  review.  There 
were  65,000  of  them,  and  it  took  two  days  to  accomplish  it. 
They  came,  just  as  they  had  marched  through  Georgia, 


426  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

with  light  baggage,  mostly  upon  inules,  and  with  their 
bummers  and  representatives  of  plantation  life  and  prod 
ucts.  They  were  marched  around  by  Libby  Prison,  and  up 
past  the  Capitol,  with  their  endless  lines  and  ceaseless 
tramp,  as  if  that  was  a  force  which  must  end  any  war.  I 
went  to  the  Powhattan  hotel,  directly  opposite  the  Capitol, 
which  had  been  given  up  to  the  Confederate  officers,  to  see 
how  they  looked  upon  that  passing  army,  and  heard  no 
utterances  but  those  of  respect,  profound  respect,  for  such 
heroes.  The  principal  residences  on  that  fine  street  were 
generally  closed  and  the  shutters  fastened,  as  if  the  inhab 
itants  could  not  look  upon  such  a  display  without  being 
made  too  sensible  of  their  losses  and  humiliation.  But 
that  was  not  strange,  and  there  were  no  signs  of  either 
contempt  or  hostility.  The  people  accepted  the  situation, 
and  having  thrown  down  the  gauge  of  battle  and  been 
defeated,  they  were  glad  to  have  it  over,  and  doubly  glad 
that  their  conquerors  showed  no  inhumanity. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  news  came  of  the  capture  of 
the  Confederate  President.  General  Devens  of  Massachu 
setts,  who  was  in  command  across  the  river,  and  came  into 
the  city  to  take  some  of  our  party  to  church  with  him  on 
that  Sunday  morning,  brought  us  the  intelligence.  It 
caused  a  great  sensation,  and  particularly  the  exaggerated 
account  of  the  disguise  in  which  he  attempted  to  escape. 
Some  of  us  were  going  to  another  church,  with  a  good 
Union  family,  and  I  remember  the  exclamation  of  the  wife 
of  our  friend  when  the  story  was  told  her :  u  ()  dear ! 
What  do  they  want  of  him  ?  "  When  the  government  had 
such  trouble  to  dispose  of  him,  and  after  a  couple  of  years 
or  so  of  close  imprisonment  and  liberty  under  guard,  they 
were  obliged  to  let  him  go,  because  they  could  neither  try 
him  by  court  martial  nor  before  a  civil  court,  when  if  tried 
in  Virginia,  where  his  crime  was  committed,  he  was  sure 
to  be  acquitted,  we  could  not  help  thinking  how  superior 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  427 

a  woman's  instinctive  good  sense  sometimes  was  to  able 
statesmanship,  and  that  it  might  have  been  a  gain  to  have 
had  one  such  in  the  Cabinet ! 

One  little  incident  occurred  at  the  close  of  our  visit 
which,  though  personal  to  the  writer,  may  be  of  general 
interest  enough  to  be  mentioned.  The  morning  before  we 
were  to  leave,  there  appeared  at  the  table  two  young  Con 
federate  officers  in  their  uniform,  one  of  whom  recognized 
me.  Inquiring  where  we  had  ever  met,  he  said  it  was  in 
Springfield,  at  his  uncle's  house,  who  was  one  of  my 
parishioners.  He  invited  mo  to  come  out  and  see  him  in 
his  quarters,  where  he  was  waiting  with  his  regiment  to  be 
sent  South.  He  was  a  surgeon,  and  had  enlisted  at  Baton 
Rouge,  and  had  served  through  the  entire  war.  1  inquired 
if  his  mother  was  not  at  the  North,  and  being  told  that 
she  was,  I  suggested  that  he  should  go  North  and  see  her 
before  he  went  home,  and  invited  him  to  return  with  me. 
He  resented  it  at  first,  as  if  it  was  a  desertion  of  his  com 
rades.  But  upon  the  suggestion  that  it  was  a  duty  to  his 
mother,  and  would  also  be  a  benefit  to  him  to  find  out  the 
state  of  things  at  the  North,  and  the  encouragement  there 
was  to  labor  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  Union,  he 
interposed  the  question,  "Could  1  go  North?"  ''Cer 
tainly,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  nobody  will  harm  you,  nor  inten 
tionally  wound  your  feelings.  You  will,  of  course,  have  to 
be  guarded  in  your  speech  and  temper.  And  you  will  have 
to  take  off  that  rebel  uniform,"  was  added.  To  this  he 
replied,  that  if  1  would  allow  him  to  consult  with  his  com 
manding  officer  he  would  report  to  me  shortly.  Within  an 
hour  he  came  back,  accepting  my  invitation,  and  was  taken 
to  a  ready-made  clothing  store  that  had  just  been  opened, 
where  he  exchanged  his  Confederate  gray  suit  for  a  citi 
zen's  dress,  and  was  told  that  he  "  looked  better."  He 
realized  this  more  fully  when  we  took  the  crowded  boat 
for  Baltimore  and  saw  what  scant  courtesy  one  received 


428  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

who  wore  the  rebel   uniform.     We   sincerely    pitied   and 
admired  him  when  we  stopped  at  the  hotel  in  the  morning 
for  breakfast  and  found  he  had  no  appetite  for  it,  and  only 
took  out  his  prayer  book  and  quietly  comforted  his- heavy 
heart  with  that  best  balm   for  every  wound.      He  came 
North  and  enjoyed  his  visit  with  his  friends,  and  returned 
South,  where  he  is  a  good  citizen,  with  a  large  family  of  this 
kind  grown  up  around  him.     So  peace  has  her  victories  as 
well  as  war,  and  I  take  more  satisfaction  in  this  kind  of 
capture  of  a  single  Confederate,  than  if  I  had  slain  a  score. 
Our  party  brought  back,  of  course,  more  or  less  memen 
toes  of  the  war.     Major  General  Charles  Devens  of  Massa 
chusetts,  who  distinguished  himself  at  Fair  Oaks,  Antie- 
tain  and  Fredericksburg,  the  accomplished  gentleman  and 
scholar,  who  for  twenty-five  years  after  the  war  honored 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  court  of  his  native  State,  and  was 
then  in  command  at  Richmond,  added  much  to  the  interest 
and  value  of  our  visit.    He  furnished  us  with  ambulances 
and  young  officers  to  visit  the  fortifications  and  battlefields 
about  the  city,  and  we  all  brought  back  something  of  in 
terest  besides  the  information   we  gained.    Some  of   our 
number  came  back  loaded  with  a  broken  musket  and  an 
unexploded  bomb,  while  the  rest  of  us  were  content  with 
buttons  and  bullets,  and  black  beans,  such  as  the  Confed 
erate  soldiers  were  sometimes  reduced  to,  as  the  principal 
part  of  their  rations.    For  myself,  I  was  content  to  bring 
home  a  piece  of  the  rebel  flag  that  was  floating  over  the 
Capitol    when    our   troops  arrived  there ;   a   rubber  ruler 
marked  "  L.  Cruger,  Comptroller's  office — C.  S.,"  which  I 
have  found  convenient  on  my  writing  desk,  and  with  which 
to  spank  my  little  grandsons,  when  obliged  to  carry  out  the 
teachings  of  Solomon,  though  it  has  seemed  as  if  the  in 
strument  had  too  much  of  the  Confederate  temper  in  it,  and 
needed  to  be  used  with  more  of  the  spirit  that  has  come 
after  the  war.    Besides  this  I  had  quite  a  quantity  of  signed 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  429 

but  unissued  Confederate  bonds,  to  be  left  to  my  heirs  and 
make  them  wealthy,  when  they  become  of  value,  as  they 
will  when  the  Confederacy  shall  be  established.  As  it  is, 
there  is  wealth  enough  of  its  kind  in  such  things,  which  so 
open  to  us  the  pages  of  history,  impress  us  with  the  cost  of 
so  many  privileges,  and  make  us  daily  thankful  to  God 
that  such  times  are  forever  over. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

GOVERNOR  BUCKINGHAM'S  RE-ELECTION  IN  1865. 

Close  of  the  War — What  Connecticut  Had  Done — The  Loyal  Gover 
nors — Reconstruction  Begun  in  Congress  and  in  the  States — The 
Adoption  of  the  Xlllth  Amendment  by  Connecticut — Acquies 
cence  in  it  by  the  South — Testimony  of  a  Southern  Bishop. 

The  end  of  the  war  came  in  the  spring  of  1865.  Gov 
ernor  Buckingham  was  then  re-elected  for  the  last  time 
and  by  an  increased  majority.  After  having  held  the  office 
eight  years,  and  met  the  responsibilities  of  that  critical 
and  all-important  period  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  State,  he 
declined  any  further  re-election,  but  a  few  years  later  was 
sent  by  the  State  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

As  has  been  already  remarked,  political  parties  in  Con 
necticut  were  generally  so  evenly  balanced  that  a  majority 
of  a  few  hundred,  or  at  most  of  1,000  or  2,000,  was  enough 
to  throw  the  influence  of  the  State  either  for,  or  against, 
any  administration.  Thus  Governor  Buckingham's  first 
election  in  1858,  when  the  war  had  not  yet  broken  out,  but 
was  threatening,  was  by  a  majority  of  only  2,500  over  all 
other  votes,  and  in  1860,  in  the  struggle  for  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election,  it  fell  to  500.  Still  in  1861,  when  the  war  was 
upon  us,  his  majority  rose  to  2,000 ;  in  1862,  the  midst  of 
the  war,  to  9,000  ;  and  in  1865,  when  the  war  was  closing, 
to  11,000.  This  last  election  took  place  the  day  after  Lee 
surrendered,  when  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of 
cannon  were  proclaiming  that  the  rebels  were  conquered, 
which,  up  to  this  time,  so  many  insisted  never  could  be 
done.  Indeed,  one  of  the  Democratic  papers  explained  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  431 

poor  showing  of  the  party  at  that  election,  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  impossible  to  bring  out  a  full  vote  in  such  a 
state  of  things.  The  Governor,  and  the  State,  had  gone 
into  that  war  with  distinct  and  righteous  convictions,  and 
while  he  counseled  well,  and  led  the  way,  the  State  rallied 
to  his  support,  and  stood  by  him  to  the  last,  with  all  her 
men  and  money  and  moral  force,  as  no  State  could  have 
done  better.  The  State  of  Connecticut  is  small  compared 
with  other  States.  At  that  time  she  had  a  population  of 
less  than  half  a  million,  (461,000,)  while  Pennsylvania  had 
2,906,370  and  New  York  3,880,735.  With  this  limited 
population  she  furnished  54,000  troops  to  the  general  gov 
ernment,  which,  reduced  to  the  standard  of  three-years' 
service,  made  48,000,  reckoned  for  that  length  of  time. 
The  other  States  all  did  noble  service,  and  were  as  prodigal 
of  the  lives  of  their  sons  as  they  were  of  their  wealth.  But 
if  Pennsylvania  had  furnished  troops  in  the  same  propor 
tion,  she  might  have  supplied  McClellan  with  t  wo  such 
magnificent  armies,  as  that  with  which  he  commenced  his 
Peninsular  campaign  ;  and  New  York  could  have  sent  Sher 
man  five  such  armies  as  the  one  with  which  he  marched 
through  the  whole  Southern  Confederacy.*  At  one  time 
more  than  one-tenth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  State 
were  in  the  army,  and  only  two  States  in  the  Union  fur 
nished  more  troops  for  the  government  in  proportion  to 
their  population.  These  were  Iowa,  with  her  splendid 


*  Adjutant  General  Morse,  in  his  final  report  to  the  Governor,  gives  the  following 
explanatory  and  fuller  statement  of  this  matter :  "It  will  be  noticed  that  in  my 
report  1,800  are  reported  whose  term  of  service  is  not  known.  This  is  to  the  credit 
allowed  by  the  Naval  Commission,  and  their  term  of  service  is  to  be  determined  by 
the  Navy  Department.  Thus  the  State  has  furnished  equal  to  48,181  three-years' 
men,  from  which  deduct  the  total  quota,  also  reduced,  to  the  three-years'  stand 
ard,  viz.:  41,483,  and  the  State  has  a  surplus  of  6,G98  in  three-years'  men,  without 
reference  to  its  quota  under  the  call  of  December,  1864.  Under  this  last  call  no 
troops  were  required  to  be  furnished  from  this  State.  In  fact  no  quota  was  as 
signed.  Your  Excellency  was  informed,  that  the  surplus  under  former  calls  more 
than  filled  the  demand  under  this,  and  the  State  was  exempt."  In  other  words, 
Connecticut  always  more  than  met  the  levies  made  upon  her,  and  was  never  s\ib- 
jected  to  a  draft. 


432  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

patriotism,  and  more  young  men  in  it  because  of  her  re 
cent  settlement,  and  the  other,  Illinois,  with  patriotism 
enough,  and  the  additional  enthusiasm  of  having  furnished 
the  nation  with  its  President. 

As  for  the  character  of  these  troops,  such  a  book  as 
"  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  which  details  their  services  in 
the  field,  their  sufferings  in  prison,  and  heroic  deaths  in 
the  storm  of  battle;  as  well  as  that  roll  of  honor*  which 
contains  so  many  of  the  highest  promotions  of  the  war ;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  unmentioned  and  unhonored  ones,  by 
which  such  promotion  could  only  have  been  won  for  their 
commanders,  amazes  us.  To  find  so  many  such  characters 
in  our  own  times,  and  such  achievements  in  our  own 
country,  and  in  this  work-a-day  age,  when  money  making 
and  practical  politics  are  supposed  to  engross  everybody; 
to  have  known  these  things  by  our  own  knowledge,  and 
heard  them  from  the  lips  of  our  friends  and  neighbors,  and 
felt  them  to  our  heart's  core,  when  our  sons  and  brothers 
were  brought  home  to  be  buried  in  a  soldier's  grave,  and 
we  have  gone  from  the  funeral  to  comfort  the  widow,  and 
provide  for  the  orphans ;  gives  to  such  achievements  a  glory 
which  neither  age,  nor  distance,  nor  the  romance  of  history 
can  -either  intensify  or  brighten.  When,  therefore,  Gov 
ernor  Buckingham,  at  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war,  as  his 
correspondence  with  the  government  already  given,  shows, 
pressed  upon  the  War  Department  the  acceptance  of  more 
of  his  troops,  and  assured  Secretary  Stanton  that  "no State, 
large  or  small,  shall  send  your  Excellency  better  troops,  or 
stand  by  you  in  all  your  embarrassments  and  perplexities 
more  firmly,  than  this  Commonwealth;"  and  when  he 
assured  the  President,  that  "to  secure  such  high  public 
interests,  the  State  of  Connecticut  will  bind  her  destinies 
more  closely  to  those  of  the  general  government,  and  in 
adopting  the  measures  suggested,  she  would  renewedly 
pledge  all  her  pecuniary  and  physical  resources,  and  all  her 


*  See  pages  292,  •£&• 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  433 

moral  power,"  he  was  not  uttering  unmeaning  or  incon 
siderate  words. 

These  loyal  governors,  who  led  the  nation  through  that 
stern  conflict,  were  a  rare  and  noble  set  of  men.  Not,  per 
haps,  that  they  were  so  much  more  patriotic  than  others 
when  all  were  patriotic,  but  they  were  so  wise,  so  steadfast, 
so  harmonious  and  so  hopeful  of  success  in  the  darkest 
periods  of  the  war ;  they  were  so  sagacious  in  their  judg 
ments  from  the  beginning,  such  wise  advisers  of  the  gen 
eral  government,  so  ready  to  furnish  all  the  men  and  money 
that  should  be  needed  for  any  struggle,  however  desperate, 
and  when  the  period  of  reconstruction  came  they  were 
magnanimous  enough  to  win  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
well-nigh  the  whole  South,  we  may  well  confer  upon  them 
the  rank  of  truest  nobility.  The  men  who  could  counsel 
thus,  and  so  command  the  confidence  of  their  several 
States,  and  work  so  well  together  through  these  perilous 
times — these  were  the  men  who  may  be  justly  said  to  have 
saved  the  Republic.  Some  of  them  had  easier  work  than 
others,  but  all  did  their  part  nobly,  and  commanded  the  con 
fidence  and  support  of  their  several  States  to  the  very  last. 

It  was  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  who  sent  the  first 
armed  regiment  to  fight  their  way  through  Baltimore  to 
the  capital,  when  other  troops  who  had  no  arms  were 
obliged  to  turn  back.  It  was  Connecticut's  Governor 
whose  armed  troops  first  readied  Washington,  provided 
with  baggage  wagons  and  ammunition  and  everything 
needed  for  the  field.  Governor  Morgan  of  New  York,  with 
his  great  State  behind  him,  sent  220,000  troops  to  the  front 
and  put  New  York  harbor  in  a  state  of  defense.  Governor 
Curtin  also,  with  the  resources  of  another  great  State, 
promptly  responded  to  the  first  call  for  troops,  and  when 
General  Patterson,  who  was  in  command  of  Pennsylvania's 
militia,  asked  for  25,000  more,  furnished  them  also.  And 
when  these  were  refused  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  instead 


434  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

of  disbanding  them,  he  obtained  authority  from  the  Legis 
lature  to  equip  them  at  the  State's  expense  and  hold  them 
subject  to  the  call  of  the  national  government,  and  was 
thus  able  to  honor  promptly  the  frequent  and  heavy  drafts 
made  upon  him.  Governor  Morton  of  Indiana  had  the 
hardest  time  of  any  of  them,  but  held  the  State  firmly 
to  the  support  of  the  war,  though  a  Democratic  Legis 
lature  came  into  power  which  refused  to  receive  the 
Governor's  message,  and  was  about  to  take  from  him 
the  command  of  the  militia.  The  Republican  members 
withdrew,  leaving  both  houses  without  a  quorum,  when 
in  order  to  carry  on  the  State  government  and  pay  the 
State  bonds  he  obtained  advances  from  banks  and  county 
boards,  and  appointed  a  bureau  of  finance,  which  from 
April,  1863.  till  January,  1865,  made  all  disbursements  of 
the  State,  amounting  to  more  than  $1,000,000.  During 
this  period  he  refused  to  summon  the  Legislature.  The 
Supreme  Court  condemned  this  arbitrary  course,  but  the 
people  subsequently  applauded  his  action,  and  the  State 
assumed  the  obligations  that  he  had  incurred.  These  were 
the  men  to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  for  advice  and  sup 
port,  and  with  such  support  the  government  dared  to  under 
take  and  successfully  accomplished  the  greatest  achieve 
ments  of  our  history. 

The  ending  of  the  war  called  not  only  for  the  recon 
struction  of  the  Union  and  the  terms  upon  which  the 
Secession  States  were  to  be  restored,  but  slavery  was  to  be 
once  and  forever  disposed  of  by  an  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution.  This  could  only  be  done  by  the  action  of  the 
several  States,  as  well  as  by  Congress,  so  the  governors 
had  work  enough  the  first  year  after  the  war  to  secure 
the  adoption  of  the  amendment,  and  settle  up  their  State 
accounts  with  the  general  government,  before  they  could 
retire  from  office.  This  work  was  done  with  such  wis 
dom  and  fidelity  to  their  various  trusts,  that  it  was  the 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  435 

crowning  glory  of  their  several  administrations.  In 
Congress,  such  an  amendment  had  to  be  adopted  by  a 
two-thirds  vote  of  each  branch  of  that  body  before  it 
could  be  submitted  to  the  several  States,  to  be  ratified 
by  a  similar  majority  of  each  branch  of  the  Legisla 
ture.  The  attempt  to  adopt  it  in  Congress  at  the  close 
of  1864  failed,  though  urged  by.  the  President  in  his 
message.  But  early  in  1865,  as  the  war  was  about  to  end 
in  the  triumph  of  freedom,  and  when  the  presidential  elec 
tion  had  so  completely  changed  the  political  character  of 
both  branches  of  Congress,  the  amendment  was  adopted 
there  by  the  necessary  majority,  and  successively  adopted 
by  three-fourths  of  the  thirty-six  States  of  the  Union. 

When  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  met  on  the 
first  Wednesday  of  May  of  that  year,  every  Confederate 
army  had  either  surrendered  or  was  disbanding  itself. 

In  the  following  language,  Governor  Buckingham  urged 
the  immediate  ratification  of  the  amendment  wjiich  was 
forever  to  abolish  slavery:  "As  slavery  has  been  the 
cause  of  our  woes  and  our  burdens,  it  is  our  duty  to  labor 
for  its  abolition.  An  institution  antagonistic  to  liberty,  and 
opposed  to  the  first  elements  of  Christianity ;  an  institution 
which,  in  its  barbarous  tendency,  planned  and  perpetuated 
a  cowardly,  brutal  and  murderous  assault  upon  freedom  of 
speech,  and  upon  fidelity  to  truth,  in  the  person  of  a  scholarly 
and  accomplished  statesman  in  the  American  Senate;  an 
institution  which  instigated  the  Rebellion  which  scored  and 
imprisoned  our  sons,  and  sent  them  by  tens  of  thousands 
to  the  grave  by  starvation,  and  which,  to  crown  its  work  of 
infamy,  assassinated  the  President;  has  forfeited  all  right 
to  protection  and  life,  and  merits  our  vigorous  and  undying 
opposition.  If,  during  this  struggle  we  shall  sustain  the 
general  government  in  the  performance  of  its  proper  func 
tions,  abolish  the  inhuman  system  of  slavery,  punish 
traitors,  and  adhere  perpetually  to  the  demands  of  truth, 


436  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

righteousness  and  justice,  we  may  hope  that  throughout  an 
undivided  nation  our  prosperity  will  be  increased,  our  peace 
be  uninterrupted,  and  our  liberties  be  eternal." 

A  resolution  was  at  once  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Representatives,  adopting  and  ratifying  the  XHIth  Amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  abolishing 
and  prohibiting  slavery.  "The  Democratic  leaders  prom 
ised  that  no  opposition  should  be  made  to  the  passage  of 
the  resolution,  provided  the  yeas  and  nays  were  not  called. 
Under  this  agreement,  the  resolution  was  passed  nem.  con., 
the  Republicans  voting  'aye'  and  the  Democrats  main 
taining  the  stipulated  silence.  In  the  Senate,  the  roll  was 
called  and  the  twenty-one  Republican  Senators  voted  'yes.' 
So  Connecticut  cast  her  vote  for  the  abolition  of  slavery 
without  a  dissentient  voice." 

Thus  this  real  climax  of  the  war  was  reached,  and  these 
loyal  men  were  all  agreed  about  it,  and  alike  persistent  in 
securing  it.  And  when  this  was  accomplished,  they  might 
well,  like  the  Governor  of  Connecticut,  lay  their  cares  and 
their  honors  down,  and  retire  at  least  for  a  while  to  private 
life.  For  history  will  do  them  justice,  and  they  must  ever 
be  regarded  as  remarkable  men,  such  as  have  been  the 
product  of  no  other  age,  nor  have  left  to  their  country  and 
to  mankind  such  another  bequest  of  liberty  and  humanity. 

The  reconstructive  period  of  the  government,  which  im 
mediately  succeeded  the  war,  was  almost  as  full  of  peril  as 
the  war  itself.  Upon  what  terms  were  the  Secession  States 
to  be  received  back  into  the  Union  ?  What  penalties  were 
to  be  inflicted  upon  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  ?  What 
privileges  were  to  be  given  to  the  emancipated  slave, 
and  what  legislation  adopted  to  make  him  eventually  an 
American  citizen,  and  allow  him  to  vote  among  a  white 
population  ?  And  how  could  the  South  be  conciliated  by 
our  consideration  and  magnanimity,  so  as  to  forget  the  ani 
mosities  of  the  war.  and  let  us  become  a  truly  united 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  437 

people  ?  These  were  questions  delicate  and  perplexing 
enough  to  tax  the  wisest  statesmanship,  as  well  as  the  best- 
controlled  and  most  Christian  spirit.  And  here  was  where 
a  surprising  difficulty  was  encountered  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
successor.  President  Johnson  was  a  strange  man,  and  if 
he  had  not  been  so  strangely  unreasonable  and  forfeited 
to  such  an  extent  the  confidence  of  the  country,  he  would 
have  caused  the  government  more  embarrassment  than  he 
did,  and  have  defeated  the  best  results  of  the  war.  He 
held  that  the  Secession  States  were  still  in  the  Union  ;  he 
vetoed  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill,  designed  to  protect  the 
negroes;  he  vetoed  the  Civil  Rights  bill,  which  made  the 
freed  men  citizens  without  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  after 
wards  the  bill  giving  them  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  was  passed  over  his  veto.  And  when 
the  XlVth  Amendment  followed,  to  carry  out  and  more 
effectually  execute  the  XHIth,  it  had  to  encounter  his  dis 
approval  and  earnest  opposition.  The  President  was  finally 
impeached  before  the  Senate  for  violating  the  provisions  of 
the  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  and  on  his  trial  only  escaped  con 
viction  where  three-fourths  of  the  body  were  required  to 
convict,  for  the  lack  of  one  more  vote  in  behalf  of  the 
prosecutors.  Still,  in  spite  of  this  and  every  other  ob 
struction  in  the  way  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union, 
it  was  well  done,  and  has  been  endorsed  by  all  parties  and 
all  parts  of  the  country,  South  as  well  as  North,  which  is 
the  highest  testimony  that  could  be  paid  to  its  wisdom  and 
justice,  and  the  necessity  for  it. 

That  Xlllth  Amendment,  with  its  few  lines  and  simple 
language,  and  two  clauses, 

Clause  I.  Neither  slavery,  nor  involuntary  servitude  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed,  shall  exist  within  the  "United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

Clause  II.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 


438  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

is  the  charter  of  our  freedom  and  foundation  of  our  Re 
public.  The  privileges  of  the  English  people,  contained  in 
their  Magna  Charta,  as  wrung  from  one  of  their  sovereigns 
at  Runny mede,  were  not  greater  or  more  fundamental  than 
these  are  to  us..  But  for  these  privileges,  the  English  mon- 
archs  had  still  been  the  vassals  of  the  Pope,  and  England  a 
province  of  France,  while  but  for  ours,  4,000,000  of  our  popu 
lation  had  continued  to  be  plantation  slaves,  "  with  no  rights 
which  a  white  man  was  bound  to  respect,"  and  the  rest  of 
us  required  to  be  slave  hunters  and  bound  to  help  keep 
them  in  that  condition  forever.  It  is  certainly  cheering 
after  the  alienations  of  a  century  and  the  struggles  of  a 
civil  war,  and  within  thirty  years  after  that  war,  to  have 
one  competent  from  his  Southern  birth  and  training,  and 
his  present  position  and  his  Christian  spirit,  tell  us  :— 

Living  in  that  section  of  the  country  which  was  last  and  longest 
cursed  by  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  myself  the  son  of  a  slave 
holder,  I  rejoice  beyond  expression  in  the  fact  and  providence  of 
emancipation.  The  hateful  thing  is  dead  and  buried  beyond  power 
or  possibility  of  resurrection,  and  for  this  all  our  people  are  devoutly 
thankful.  With  an  extensive  acquaintance  over  the  entire  South 
land,  I  do  not  know  a  single  person,  old  or  young,  who  would  consent 
to  its  restoration.— [Bishop  Galloway,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  1892. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

GREAT  BRITAIN  CALLED  TO  ACCOUNT  FOR  BUILDING  CONFED 
ERATE  CRUISERS. 

The  Alabama — Our  Claims  for  Damages — The  Geneva  Award — "  How 
I  Ran  into  the  Builder  of  the  Alabama"— Napoleon  Ill's  Latin 
Kingdom  in  Mexico  Disposed  of  by  Our  "  Monroe  Doctrine." 

The  end  of  our  war  required  not  only  the  reconstruction 
of  our  own  government,  but  also  the  settlement  of  important 
matters  with  foreign  governments,  particularly  Great 
Britain,  and  France,  who  had  taken  advantage  of  our  em 
barrassments  to  encroach  upon  our  rights,  as  they  never 
would  have  thought  of  doing  had  we  been  free  to  prevent 
it  at  the  time. 

Great  Britain  had  allowed  piratical  vessels,  or  "  Confederate  Cruis 
ers,"  as  they  were  called,  to  be  built  by  her  subjects,  and  sent  out  to 
prey  upon  our  commerce.  This  was  done  to  a  considerable  extent, 
but  the  most  reckless  and  hostile  instance  of  it  was  the  case  of  the 
Alabama.  This  vessel,  called  by  the  number  of  her  dock  on  the  Clyde, 
where  she  was  built,  "  The  290,"  and  built  by  a  firm  to  which  the 
Laird  Brothers,  one  of  whom  was  a  member  of  Parliament,  belonged, 
caused  the  greatest  consternation  to  our  shipping,  and  it  was  a  long 
time  before  her  depredations  could  be  stopped.  She  was  built  in  the 
summer  of  1862,  and  her  depredations  were  not  put  an  end  to  for  a 
full  year.  In  the  meantime,  under  command  of  an  English  captain,  she 
went  to  one  of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  and  was  there  joined  by  another 
English  vessel,  from  which  she  received  her  armament,  and  soon 
after  still  another  brought  her  Semmes,  the  former  captain  of  another 
Confederate  privateer,  and  a  crew.  On  Sunday,  August  26th,  1862, 
having  received  her  arms,  crew  and  commander,  and  being  in  other 
respects  ready,  "The  290"  steamed  out  of  port.  When  in  the  open 
sea,  Semmes  appeared  on  deck  in  full  uniform,  and  announced  that 
the  ship  was  hereafter  the  Confederate  steamship  Alabama.  The 
British  flag  was  hauled  down,  the  Confederate  hoisted  and  saluted. 


440  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

The  crew  were  British.  On  the  29th  of  August  she  began  her  cruise, 
and  on  the  5th  of  September  made  her  first  capture,  burning  the  ship 
and  putting  the  crew  in  irons.  By  the  close  of  October,  she  had 
made  twenty-seven  prizes.  Her  manner  of  operatios,  as  indeed  was 
the  case  with  all  the  Anglo-Confederate  cruisers,  was  to  approach  her 
prey  under  the  British  flag,  and  when  it  was  captured  to  hoist  the 
Confederate.  Semmes  then  either  burnt  or  bonded  his  victim. 
Having  received  a  supply  of  coal  at  one  of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  he 
lay  in  wait  for  the  California  treasure-ships,  capturing  one,  the  Ariel, 
which,  however,  was  outward  bound,  and  therefore  not  very  profit 
able.  On  January  11  he  sunk  the  Hatteras,  one  of  the  blockading 
ships  off  Galveston,  having  lured  her  within  reach  by  hoisting 
British  colors  and  hailing  as  her  Majesty's  ship,  Petrel.  He  subse 
quently  cruised  in  the  West  India  seas  for  a  time,  and  then  went  to 
the  coast  of  Brazil.  He  then  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  Cape  Town, 
August  5th,  and  thence  to  the  Malay  Archipelago,  which  he  reached 
in  November.  After  an  unproductive  cruise  of  three  months  in  those 
waters,  he  returned,  destroying  on  his  way  but  few  American  vessels, 
for  there  were  but  few  now  upon  the  sea.  On  the  llth  of  June  he 
went  into  the  French  harbor  of  Cherbourg. — [Draper's  "  Civil  War," 
Vol.  7/1,  p.  201. 

All  this,  be  it  remembered,  took  place  when  this  ship  of 
war  had  no  recognized  government  to  issue  any  such  com 
mission  ;  *  had  not  a  port  in  the  wide  world  where  it  could 
take  its  prizes,  and  have  them  adjudged  lawful  prizes  by 
consular  power,  as  the  laws  of  civilized  nations  require. 
Seemingly  such  a  vessel  might  have  been  hunted  down  by 
the  navy  of  every  civilized  nation,  and  especially  by  Eng 
land's,  through  whose  negligence,  if  not  direct  connivance, 
she  was  proving  the  pest  of  all  commerce. 

In  June,  1864.  the  Alabama  found  shelter  in  the  harbor 
of  Cherbourg,  Prance,  where  she  found  sympathy,  but 
where  the  French  government  could  hardly  be  said  to  wel 
come  her  for  fear  of  complications  with  our  government. 
This  port  is  only  separated  from  England  by  the  British 


*  The  only  commission  which  this  ship  had  was  the  following  :  Captain  Semmes 
took  command,  and  drawing  up  the  crew  read  his  commission  as  a  port  captain  in 
the  Confederate  Navy,  and  opened  his  sealed  orders  in  which  he  was  directed  to 
hoist  the  Confederate  ensign  and  pennant  and  "to  sink,  burn  and  destroy  every 
thing  which  flew  the  ensign  of  the  so-called  United  States  of  America." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  441 

Channel,  and  our  ship  of  war,  the  Kearsarge,  was  at  Flush 
ing,  not  far  off,  and  came  with  all  haste  at  the  call  of  our 
French  minister,  Mr.  Dayton,  to  look  after  her.     Without 
entering  the  port,  Captain   Winslow   lay   off   the  harbor, 
sailing  back  and  forth,  as  a  challenge  to  the  Alabama  to 
come  out  and  fight,  which  could   not  be  done  within  the 
harbor.    Captain  Semmes,  confident  that  he  could  meet  any 
thing  of  her  class,  and  encouraged  by  those  whose  wishes 
were  for  his  success,  and  who  flattered  him  with  the  assur 
ance  of  it,  sailed  out  of  the  harbor  on  the  morning  of  the 
19th  of  June,  when  the  Kearsarge  led  off  with  the  Alabama 
in  pursuit,  until  they  should  both  get  more  than  a  marine 
league  from  the  shore.     Then  the  Kearsarge  turned  short 
about  and  steered  directly  for  her  antagonist,  intending  to 
run  her  down,  or  if  that  was  not  possible,  to  engage  her  at 
close  quarters.     It  was  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning,  the 
atmosphere  a  little  hazy,  with  a  gentle  breeze  blowing  from 
the   west.     Many    vessels   had    followed    the    Confederate 
corsair,  and  she  had  encountered  many  more  on  that  path 
way  of  commerce,  while  the  shore  was  lined  with  spectators 
to  listen  to  the  guns  if  they  could  not  see  the  ships.     Cap 
tain  Winslow  was  determined  that  if  skillful  seamanship 
and  desperate  fighting  could  win  the  battle,  it  should  be 
done.     When  the  Alabama  had  come  within  a  mile  of  the 
enemy,  she  turned  her  full  broadside  upon  her,  and  began 
firing   rapidly,   but   doing    little   damage.      Another   and 
another  broadside  came  from  her,  still  without  much  harm 
to  the  Union  vessel  except  to  her  rigging. 

The  Kearsarge  was  now  within  nine  hundred  yards  of  her  enemy, 
and  had  not  yet  fired  a  shot;  but  her  commander,  apprehensive  that 
another  broadside,  which  would  have  raked  her,  might  prove  dis 
astrous,  sheered  his  vessel  and  opened  on  the  Alabama.  The  vessels 
now  lay  broadside  and  broadside,  and  Winslow,  fearing  that  Semmes 
might  make  for  the  shore,  made  up  his  mind  to  keep  full  speed  on,  to 
run  under  the  stern  of  the  Alabama  and  rake  her.  To  avoid  this 
Semmes  kept  sheering,  and  as  a  consequence  the  two  vessels,  with  a 


442  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

full  head  of  steam,  fell  into  a  circular  track  which  continued  during 
the  whole  engagement.  The  firing  of  the  Alabama  was  at  first  rapid 
and  wild.  On  board  the  Kearsarge  the  firing  was  much  more  delib 
erate.  The  Confederate  fired  some  two  shots  to  one  fired  by  the 
Eearsarge,  but  with  little  effect.  Only  three  persons  were  wounded 
011  the  national  vessel,  of  whom  one  afterwards  died,  while  nearly 
every  shot  from  the  guns  of  the  Kearsarge  told  fearfully  on  the 
Alabama.  Six  times  the  vessels  had  circled  around  each  other,  the 
Alabama,  with  all  her  noise  and  fury,  doing  little  damage,  while  the 
steady  fire  of  the  Kearsarge  was  working  havoc  on  the  decks  and  hull 
of  the  Confederate.  At  last,  on  the  seventh  rotation,  Semmes,  per 
ceiving  the  battle  was  lost,  tried  to  take  flight  for  the  shore  of  France. 
His  port  broadside  was  then  presented  to  the  Kearsarge  with  only  two 
guns  bearing.  Winslow  now  saw  that  his  enemy  was  at  his  mercy, 
and  poured  his  shot  into  her,  and  in  a  few  moments  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  seeing  a  white  flag  displayed  over  her  stern.  A  moment  later 
the  Alabama  lowered  her  boats,  and  an  officer  came  alongside  the 
Kearsarge,  informing  Winslow  that  the  ship  was  sinking.  Twenty 
minutes  later  she  went  down  by  the  stern,  her  batteries  rushing  aft 
weighing  her  down,  her  bow  rising  high  out  of  the  water.  The 
Alabama  had  sunk  before  the  Kearsarge  was  ready  with  her  boats  to 
rescue  the  Confederate  crew.  While  Winslow  was  lowering  his  boats 
for  this  purpose,  he  took  notice  of  the  English  yacht  Deerhouud, 
which  had  steamed  out  from  Cherbourg  to  watch  the  fight,  and 
requested  John  Lancaster,  her  owner,  to  assist  him  in  picking  up  the 
drowning  men.  The  latter  instantly  availed  himself  of  this  request 
in  a  manner  which  amazed  the  commander  of  the  Kearsarge.  In  ten 
minutes  after  the  request  was  made,  the  English  captain  had  Semmes 
and  about  forty  of  his  officers  and  men  on  board,  and  then  steamed 
away  to  the  English  shore.— -["History  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Vol.  IX, 
p.  150. 

This  was  the  source  of  much  indignation  on  our 
part,  while  the  English  press  justified  it.  This  whole 
business  of  building  Confederate  cruisers  by  the  English, 
led  to  a  serious  complication  of  relations  between  this 
country  and  Great  Britain,  which  fortunately  resulted 
in  a  reference  to  an  arbitration  at  Geneva,  that  settled 
the  matter  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  both  parties. 
Our  minister  in  London  at  that  time  was  Mr.  Adams, 
who,  like  the  other  members  of  that  distinguished  family, 
had  sound  judgment,  fearless  integrity,  and  a  patriotism 


WILLIAM    A.     BUCKINGHAM.  443 

which  no  iiattery  could  corrupt  nor  statecraft  mislead.  He 
repeatedly  called  attention  to  the  construction  in  England 
of  vessels  to  be  used  by  the  Confederacy,  one  being  the 
Florida  and  another  the  Alabama.  Lord  Russell,  on  the 
part  of  the  British  government,  disclaimed  knowledge  of 
the  facts,  and  did  not  see  how  his  government  could  prevent 
what  was  said  to  be  going  on.  In  the  meantime  Mr. 
Adams  was  collecting  proof  of  the  ownership  of  the 
Alabama,  and  the  use  to  which  she  was  to  be  put, 
and  also  secured  "  the  legal  opinion  of  one  of  the  most 
eminent  English  lawyers,  Mr.  Collier,  afterwards  Lord 
Monkswell,  declaring  positively  that  on  the  case  as  pre 
sented  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Liverpool  authorities  to  detain 
the  vessel,  and  that  they  would  be  incurring  a  heavy  respon 
sibility  in  allowing  her  to  go."  On  account  of  these 
communications,  the  law  officers  began  their  leisurely 
examination,  and  sent  orders  to  stop  the  vessel.  But  before 
they  were  executed  the  Confederate  cruiser  Alabama  was 
gone',  and  on  her  way  around  the  world,  a  besom  of  destruc 
tion  to  our  commerce  and  a  sad  reproach  to  the  British 
government,  and  for  which  she  was  afterwards  to  answer.* 
At  this  time  the  unfortunate  Peninsular  campaign  was 
being  carried  on,  and  hope  for  Union  success  was  not  so 
bright  as  it  had  been  before  and  was  afterwards.  The 
wrong  was  borne  for  the  time.  Later,  when  we  had  suc- 


*  For  the  sense  of  wrong  which  we  felt  in  this  crisis  of  our  war  for  such  unjusti 
fiable  aid  to  our  enemies,  and  at  the  almost  uniform  utterances  of  England's  public 
men  and  her  Parliament  in  sympathy  with  the  Confederacy,  and  assured  prophe 
cies  of  their  success ;  and  also  for  England's  persistent  denial  of  the  wrong  she 
had  done  us  in  building  those  rebel  cruisers,  and  for  the  "  easy  indifference,  if  not 
contempt,"  with  which  for  six  years  she  treated  our  reasonable  and  generous 
offers  to  settle  all  claims  for  damages,  and  prevent  their  repetition  in  the  future, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Elaine's  "Twenty  Years  in  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  Chap. 
XX.  It  was  not  until  the  Franco-Prussian  war  showed  what  damage  might  have 
been  done  to  either  of  those  belligerents  by  such  a  disregard  of  neutrality  laws, 
and  until  President  Grant  proposed  to  Congress  to  pay  the  Alabama  claims  out  of 
the  United  States  treasury,  as  showing  that  the  British  government  would  always 
bo  held  accountable  for  them,  that  England  was  willing  to  settle  those  claims  upon 
any  terms,  and  in  hot  haste  submitted  them  to  the  Geneva  arbitration. 


444  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

ceeded,  the  British  government  became  alarmed  by  the 
position  in  which  it  found  itself,  and  asked  for  an  adjust 
ment  of  this  difficulty.  For  when  she  should  be  at  war 
with  any  nation,  even  the  weakest,  we  had  only  to  interpret 
our  neutrality  treaties  as  she  had  done,  to  build  ships  of 
war  ior  her  enemy,  and  make  a  formidable  enemy  of  the 
weakest.  So  when  some  adjustment  of  the  matter  was 
sought  for,  we  proposed  a  reference,  and  to  settle  it  by 
arbitration,  as  a  fair  and  improved  method  of  adjusting 
such  international  difficulties,  which  was  done.  It  was  not 
effected,  however,  until  1872 — ten  years  after  these  wrongs 
were  done  us — under  President  Grant's  administration,  when 
the  u  Alabama  Claims,"  as  they  were  called,  were  referred 
to  a  court  of  arbitration,  which 'held  its  session  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  in  September  of  that  year,  and  awarded  the 
United  States  the  sum  of  $15,500,000,  which  was  paid. 

"  Twelve  Confederate  crusiers  figured  in  the  so-called 
Alabama  Claims  settlement  with  England,  named  in  the 
order  of  the  damage  inflicted  by  each.  They  weref  the 
Alabama,  Shcnandoah,  Florida,  Tallahassaee,  Georgia,  Chick- 
amauga,  Sumter,  Nashville,  Retribution,  Jeff  Davis,  Sallie 
and  Boston.  The  actual  losses  inflicted  by  the  Alabama, 
$7,050,293.76,  according  to  claims  for  ships  and  cargoes 
filed  up  to  March  15,  1872,  were  only  about  $400,000 
greater  than  those  inflicted  by  the  Shenandoah.  The  sum 
total  of  the  claims  filed  against  the  twelve  cruisers  for  ships 
and  cargoes  up  to  March  15,  1872,  was  $19,782,917.60,  all 
but  about  $6,000,000  of  it  being  charged  to  the  Alabama 
and  Shenandoah. 

On  May  8,  1871,  the  Treaty  of  Washington  was  con 
cluded,  in  accordance  with  which  a  Tribunal  of  Arbitration 
was  appointed,  which  assembled  at  Geneva.  It  consisted 
of  Count  Frederick  Sciopis,  named  by  the  King  of  Italy ; 
Mr.  Jacob  Staempfli.  named  by  the  President  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation;  Viscount  d'ltajuba,  named  by  the  Emperor 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  445 

of  Brazil ;  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  named  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  and  Sir  Roundell  Palmer  (after 
wards  Lord  Selborne).  The  United  States  was  represented 
by  William  M.  Evarts,  Secretary  of  State;  Caleb  Gushing, 
an  old  diplomat,  and  Morrison  R.  Waite,  afterwards  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Claims  were 
made  by  the  United  States  for  indirect  and  national  losses, 
as  well  as  for  the  actual  private  losses  represented  by  nearly 
$20,000,000  on  ships  and  cargoes. 

The  Tribunal  decided  that  England  was  in  no  way  re 
sponsible  for  such  indirect  and  national  losses.  ("War 
Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  625.) 

As  showing  among  other  things  the  manner  in  which 
this  award  was  regarded  in  Great  Britain,  the  author  in 
serts  here  an  article  written  by  him  after  a  visit  to  England 
in  the  summer  of  1877,  soon  after  General  Grant  was  there. 
It  records  also  his  own  judgment  of  the  award  at  the  time, 
which  has  not  been  materially  changed  since.  It  was  writ 
ten  to  be  printed,  though  never  published,  under  the  title  :— 

"  How  I  RAN  INTO  THE  BUILDER  OP  THE  ALABAMA." 

"In  the  summer  of  1877,  I  was  traveling  in  Great 
Britain,  and  at  the  Shelbourne  Hotel,  Dublin,  fell  in  with 
an  intelligent  gentleman  and  his  most  agreeable  wife.  I 
knew  he  was  an  Englishman,  as  he  must  have  known  that 
I  was  an  American.  He  had  traveled  extensively,  having 
been  in  Australia,  as  well  as  over  Europe,  and  was  re 
markably  well  acquainted  with  business  matters  in  this 
country,  though  he  had  never  been  here.  I  suppose  we 
were  both  cautious,  I  certainly  was,  not  to  get  upon  sub 
jects  where  we  should  disagree,  and  so  the  day  was  past 
and  the  dinner  hour  in  most  agreeable  conversation,  and 
with  no  collision  of  opinions.  As  I  was  to  leave  in  the 
morning,  I  took  occasion  to  sit  down  with  them  the  last  of 
the  evening  for  another  talk,  in  which  I  expressed, my 


446  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

gratification  in  having  met  with  them,  and  the  hope  that 
we  might  meet  again.  I  expressed  some  surprise  that  in 
all  their  travels  they  had  not  visited  us,  and  said  :  '  I  hope 
we  shall  some  time  see  you  over  there.  We  shall  be  glad  to 
see  you.'  To  this  his  wife,  in  an  arch  and  mischievous  way, 
replied  :  '  Perhaps,  if  you  knew  who  he  is,  you  might  not 
be  so  glad  to  see  him.'  Suspecting  nothing  more  than 
mischief  from  her  frank  and  gleesome  manner,  and  even 
now  unable  to  understand  how  she  could  have  let  the  secret 
out  to  an  American,  I  drew  her  out  until  I  found  that  her 
husband  was  one  of  the  Laird  Brothers,  the  Liverpool  ship 
builders,  and  one  of  them  a  member  of  Parliament,  who 
had  built  the  Alabama.  The  revelation,  it  must  be  con 
fessed,  stirred  my  indignation,  but  controlling  my  temper 
and  speech,  we  were  soon  engaged  in  discussing  the 
subject  of  our  war,  and  the  recent  Geneva  Award.  His 
justification  was,  that  they  all  believed  that  our  war  must 
prove  a  failure,  and  if  the  government  was  to  be  broken  up, 
they  might  reap  whatever  benefits  they  could  from  our  de 
struction  ;  the  very  principles  of  a  wrecker,  who  sees  a  ship 
driving  upon  the  rocks,  without  either  helpfulness  or  pity, 
but  waits  for  her  to  break  up,  and  then  to  go  in  for  the 
wreckage ; — only  in  this  case  the  wrecker  goes  in  with  all 
his  heart  and  might  to  help  wreck  her. 

"  This  gentleman  soon  made  complaint  of  the  Geneva 
Award  as  excessive.  Fifteen  million  and  a  half !  It  was 
admitted  that  it  might  be  excessive,  so  far  as  actual 
damages  were  concerned,  though  as  our  government 
reckoned  them  up,  and  was  proposing  itself  to  pay  these 
several  sums  to  the  claimants,  they  were  nineteen  million 
or  more.  But  this  did  not  begin  to  cover  the  indirect 
damages,  for  it  had  driven  no  small  part  of  our  com 
merce  from  the  ocean,  or  at  least  had  compelled  it  to  be 
carried  under  some  other  flag,  and  there  was  no  telling 
when,  if  ever,  we  should  recover  our  fair  amount  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  4i7 

carrying   trade   of   the  world.     For   this   the   award   was 
certainly  no  adequate  compensation. 

"A  question  was  then  asked,  and  in  seriousness,  which 
surprised  .  and  irritated  me,  so  that  I  replied  that  I 
thought  if  he  realized  the  bearings  of  that  question,  he 
never  would  have  asked  it.  The  question  was:  4  Is  your 
government  never  likely  to  repay  any  part  of  that  excessive 
award?  And  why  is  that  such  an  improper  question?' 
The  answer  was :  '  Your  government  was  very  anxious 
when  our  war  was  over  to  settle  that  difficulty.  You  could 
not  afford  to  leave  the  interpretation  of  Neutrality  Laws  and 
Treaties  an  open  question.  You  are  much  more  likely  to 
be  engaged  in  foreign  wars  than  we  are,  and  if  not  with 
some  of  your  powerful  neighbors,  such  as  France,  or  Llus- 
sia.,  where  our  aid  to  strengthen  their  navy  would  be  most 
to  your  injury; — if  it  were  only  with  some  inferior  power 
you  were  fighting,  and  we  could  build  all  the  war  ships  for 
them  that  they  needed,  even  then  it  would  play  mischief 
with  your  widely  extended  commerce.  The  truth  was,  that 
when  our  war  was  over  and  the  Union  safe,  we  were  so 
well  satisfied  that  we  could  afford  to  be  magnanimous,  and 
instead  of  being  resentful  for  your  unfair  treatment  of  us, 
we  were  willing  to  let  you  find  out  for  yourselves  that  the 
wrong  you  had  done  us  must  be  rectified,  if  you  were  ever 
to  feel  secure  from  such  a  danger.  Why,  if  we  had  wished 
to  repay  your  wrong,  and  you  were  engaged  in  war  with 
any  nation,  we  had  only  to  interpret  our  Neutrality  Laws 
and  Treaties  as  you  did,  to  have  gone  into  the  business  of 
building  piratical  cruisers  for  them  as  you  did  for  the  Con 
federacy.  If  you  had  got  into  war  with  the  Feji  Islanders, 
we  could  have  built  Alabamas  for  them  and  swept  your 
commerce  from  the  ocean.  Do  you  understand  what  I 
meant,  when  I  expressed  surprise  at  your  asking  such  a 
question  ? '  After  that  we  parted  on  good  terms,  but  with 
a  better  understanding,  I  must  think,  on  his  part,  of  what 


448  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

their  business  firm,  and  their  government  had  been  doing, 
without  realizing  what  a  wrong  they  had  done,  and  in  what 
a  peril  they  had  involved  their  nation.        [Note  page  451.] 
"  It  was  'gratifying  to  see  the  respect  and  high  honor 
bestowed  by  the   English   people  upon  our  ex-President, 
General  Grant,  who  had  so  recently  been  there.     It  was 
difficult  to  account  for  it,  arid  the  people  themselves  seemed 
unable  to  explain  it.     In  visiting  Windsor  Castle,  one  of 
the  officials  pointed  out  the  wing  of  the  castle  and  suite  of 
rooms  where,  as  he  said,  <  your  General  Grant '   had  just 
been  entertained.     lie  said  that  the  Queen  showed  him 
attentions  such  as  were  scarcely  shown  to  royalty  itself. 
She  took   him  to  ride  with  her  through  the  park.     And 
when  I  asked,    '  Why  did   you   treat   him    with   so  much 
consideration  ? '    his    answer    was,   '  Oh,   we    liked    him ! 
we   liked  him ! '     We  hardly  expected  any    profound  an 
swer    from    such     an     official.       But   we    made    up    our 
minds  that  they  admired  the  honest,  sensible,  straightfor 
ward    pluckiness    of    Wellington    in  him,   and   also   that 
they  were  anxious  to  make  in  some  measure  the  amende 
honorable  for  their  lack  of  sympathy  with  us  in  our  strug 
gle,  and  the  wrong  they  had  done  us  in  building  privateers 
for  the  Confederacy. 

"  Thank  God  that  is  all  over  now,  and  the  sympathy 
of  blood  and  language,  and  civilization  and  religion,  have 
resumed  their  influence,  arid  are  together  the  most  powerful 
and  hopeful  influence  in  the  world's  future." 

Another  international  difficulty  which  had  arisen  during 
our  war,  and  which  threatened  trouble  under  our  "  Monroe 
Doctrine,"  was  also  successfully  disposed  of. 

The  French  Emperor,  Napoleon  III,  who  had  been  anx 
ious  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Confederacy,  but 
was  unable  to  induce  either  of  the  three  great  powers  of 
Europe,  Great  Britain,  Prussia,  or  Russia — the  latter  espe 
cially  being  strongly  opposed  to  it — to  join  him  in  it,  thought 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  449 

it  a  good  time  to  carry  out  a  favorite  plan  of  his  own, 
while  our  hands  were  tied,  and  in  the  confidence  that  the 
Confederacy  would  succeed  in  establishing  an  empire  of 
its  own.  His  plan  was  to  overthrow  the  government  of 
Mexico  as  a  republic,  and  establish  a  monarchy,  and  the 
papacy  with  it,  both  of  which  had  been  overthrown  in 
Mexico.  So,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  he  fitted  out  a 
military  expedition  to  Mexico  in  the  summer  of  1863,  who 
called  together  those  who  were  opposed  to  the  Republican 
government  under  Jurez,  and  organized  an  "  Assembly  of 
Notables,"  which  decreed  the  following  revolutionary  form 
of  government : — 

1.  The   Mexican    nation    adopts,  as    its  form    of    government,    a 
limited  hereditary  monarchy,  with  a  Catholic  prince. 

2.  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Mexico. 

3.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mexico  is  offered  to  his  imperial  arid 
royal    highness    the    Prince    Ferdinand    Maximilian,   Archduke    of 
Austria,  for  himself  and  his  descendants. 

4.  If,  under  circumstances  which  cannot  be  foreseen,  the  Archduke 
of  Austria,  Ferdinand  Maximilian,  should  not  take  possession  of  the 
throne  which  is  offered  to  him,  the  Mexican  nation  relies  on  the  good 
will  of  his  majesty,  Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  the  French,  to  indicate 
for  it  another  Catholic  prince. 

This  form  of  government  was  nominally  submitted  to  the 
people,  and  by  them  adopted,  but  it  was  when  Mexico  was 
occupied  by  a  French  army,  which  held  Pueblo  and  the 
city  of  Mexico,  and  this  form  of  government  was  immedi 
ately  overthrown  when  the  French  troops  were  withdrawn, 
showing  that  it  was  never  adopted  by  the  people,  but  forced 
upon  them  by  military  power. 

Maximilian,  however,  accepted  the  offer,  and  was  brought 
over  by  a  French  fleet,  and  crowned  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
and  Carlotta  as  Empress.  But  in  the  meantime  our  war 
had  ended  in  our  favor,  and  the  French  Emperor  at  once 
found  himself  obliged  to  abandon  this  enterprise,  and  leave 
this  poor  young  prince  and  princess  to  their  miserable  fate. 


450  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Maximilian  was  forced  to  abandon  his  capital,  and,  broken 
down  in  health  and  spirit,  was  soon  after  arrested,  tried 
and  executed  for  treason,  while  Carlotta,  a  devoted  wife 
and  superior  woman,  having  hope  in  her  own  personal  and 
family  influence,  hastened  to  Europe  to  plead  with  the 
French  Emperor,  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  to  interfere 
in  behalf  of  her  husband. 

The  reason  of  it  all  was,  that  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine,"  as 
it  was  called,  whatever  it  might  mean,  and  whether 
enforced  or  not,  made  Napoleon  draw  back  from  his 
ambitious  enterprise  of  founding  a  Latin  empire  on  this 
continent,  as  soon  as  we  were  in  a  condition  to  protest 
against  it,  and  had  power  to  push  that  protest,  if  it  was 
considered  necessary.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  our 
position  upon  this  subject  was  pressed  upon  us  for  adoption 
by  Lord  Canning,  the  British  statesman,  and  was  intro 
duced  by  President  Monroe  into  his  message  to  Congress  in 
1823.  It  was  earnestly  advised  by  ex-President  Jefferson, 
who,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  says: — 

Our  first  fundamental  maxim  should  be  never  to  entangle  ourselves 
in  the  broils  of  Europe;  our  second,  never  to  suffer  Europe  to  meddle 
with  our  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  America,  North  and  South,  has  a  set  of 
separate  interests  distinct  from  those  of  Europe,  and  peculiarly  her 
own.  She  should,  therefore,  have  a  system  of  her  own,  separate  and 
apart  from  that  of  Europe.  While  the  last  is  laboring  to  become  the 
domicile  of  despotism,  our  endeavor  should  surely  be  to  make  our 
hemisphere  that  of  freedom.  One  nation  (England),  most  of  all, 
could  disturb  us  in  this  pursuit.  She  now  offers  to  lead  and  accom 
pany  us  in  it.  By  acceding  to  this  position,  we  detach  her  from  the 
bands  of  despots,  bring  her  mighty  weight  into  the  scale  of  free 
government,  and  emancipate  a  continent  at  one  stroke,  which  might 
otherwise  linger  long  in  doubt  and  difficulty.  Great  Britain  is  the 
nation  which  can  do  us  the  most  harm  of  any  one  on  all  the  earth, 
and  with  her  on  our  side  we  need  not  fear  the  whole  world.  With 
her  then  we  must  most  seriously  cherish  a  cordial  friendship,  and 
nothing  would  tend  more  to  unite  our  affections,  than  to  be  fight 
ing  once  more  side  by  side  in  the  same  cause.  It  is  only  protesting 
against  the  atrocious  violations  of  the  rights  of  nations  by  the  inter 
ference  of  any  one  in  the  internal  affairs  of  another,  so  flagrantly 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  451 

begun  by  Napoleon  I,   and  now   continued   by  the   equally  lawless 
alliance  calling  itself  holy.* 

These  ideas  are  summed  up  by  President  Monroe  in  his 
message  in  the  statement  of  the  principle  in  which  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved,  that 
the  two  continents  by  the  free  and  independent  condition 
they  have  assumed  and  maintained,  are  henceforth  not  to 
be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any 
European  powers.  And  especially  when  such  colonizations 
are  organized  as  hereditary  monarchies,  and  with  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  as  the  established  religion,  the 
right  is  claimed  of  protesting  against  it,  and  of  carry 
ing  such  protest  as  far  as  may  be  thought  expedient  to 
prevent  it. 

It  was  such  a  protest  on  our  part  against  the  invasion  of 
Mexico  by  a  French  army  and  the  establishment  of  an 
hereditary  monarchy  under  a  Catholic  and  foreign  prince, 
and  our  ability  to  enforce  that  protest  if  necessary  when 
our  war  was  over,  that  made  Napoleon  withdraw  his  troops 
and  abandon  his  Austrian  prince  to  his  fate.  And  so  this 
protest  has  answered  its  purpose  for  the  greater  part  of  a 
century  without  our  being  obliged  to  resort  to  force,  and 
so  may  it  prove  in  the  future. 

*  This  means  the  "  Holy  Alliance  "  entered  into  in  1815  by  Russia,  Austria  and 
Prussia,  for  the  maintenance  of  "peace  and  the  establishment  of  existing 
dynasties." 

NOTE.— Page  448.  As  showing  the  perverted  judgment  of  the  English  people  in 
respect  to  this  matt*  r.  Bishop  Brooks  tells  us  what  Tennyson,  one  of  our  good 
friends,  and  whom  we  held  in  high  honor,  said  to  him:  "We  should  think  you 
w<  uld  be  ashamed  to  keep  that  award,"  while  we  were  wondering  that  they  were 
not  ashamed  to  cause  us  such  loss. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 
UNITED  STATES  SENATOR. 

Governor  Buckingham's  Term  in  the  Senate — His  Share  in  Main 
taining  What  Had  Been  Gained  by  the  War— Some  of  His  Work 
— His  Death  Shortly  Before  the  Expiration  of  His  Term  of  Office. 

When  the  war  was  over,  and  the  interests  of  Connecticut 
were  well  settled  with  the  general  government,  and  Gover 
nor  Buckingham  had  held  his  office  eight  years,  he  declined 
re-election,  and  in  1868  was  sent  to  the  United  States 
Senate. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  met  with  a  sore  domestic  bereave 
ment  in  the  death  of  his  wife.  He  had  been  singularly 
favored  and  happy  in  his  family  relations.  His  wife,  Eliza 
Ripley,  belonged  to  an  old,  large  and  respected  Norwich 
family  of  eight  children,  who  mostly  settled  in  the  town, 
and  had  families  of  their  own,  which  of  themselves  made 
a  considerable  social  circle,  but  concerned  as  they  were  in 
all  the  interests  of  society,  it  rather  indicates  the  breadth 
of  their  intercourse  and  abounding  hospitality.  A  Thanks 
giving  dinner  with  twenty  or  more  at  the  table,  an  evening 
party  of  a  score  of  nephews  and  nieces  and  several  times 
that  number  of  their  young  friends,  the  daily  entertain 
ment  not  only  of  men  in  public  life,  but  of  ministers,  mis 
sionaries,  students,  or  some  neighbors  from  the  old  Lebanon 
home,  which  was  near,  were  mattery  of  course.  And 
it  was  hospitality  as  sincere  and  unstinted  as  could  be 
found  anywhere.  No  one  who  ever  enjoyed  it,  and  espe 
cially  was  accustomed  to  share  in  it,  could  forget  the 
parents  and  the  daughter  *  who  constituted  the  family,  and 


*  This  daughter  became  the  wife  of  General  William  A.  Aiken  of  Norwich,  and 
the  mother  of  a  lar^e  family,  where  they  now  reside. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  453 

who  were  never  weary  in  contributing  to  the  comfort  and 
enjoyment  of  their  guests.  The  mother,  a  great-hearted 
woman,  full  of  the  tenderest  sympathy,  with  hands  wide 
open  to  want,  and  with  sufficient  means  at  her  disposal, 
always  had  a  company  of  dependants  who  knew  that  as 
long  as  she  lived  they  would  never  be  deserted,  and  when 
she  died  cherished  her  memory  as  they  would  few  of  their 
own  kindred.  To  her  own  husband,  she  was  for  forty 
years  all  that  a  wife  could  be  in  tender  affection,  efficient 
helpfulness,  and  as  sharing  their  Christian  faith  and  im 
mortal  hopes  together.  And  nothing  could  have  expressed 
more  fittingly  the  estimation  in  which  he  cherished  her 
memory  than  the  inscription  he  had  chiseled  upon  the  fam 
ily  monument  under  her  name : — 

"  I  thank  my  God  upon  every  remembrance  of  you."    (Phil,  i:  3.) 

Her  death  was  a  sad  bereavement,  and  especially  when  he 
was  released  from  the  cares  of  state,  to  enjoy  his  family  and 
friends  the  more.  Indeed,  his  election  to  the  United  States 
Senate  had  little  interest  to  him  at  that  time,  and  especially  if 
he  must  go  to  Washington  without  taking  with  him  the  de 
voted  wife  and  true  helpmeet  of  his  life.  Notwithstanding 
this,  he  purchased  a  residence  in  Washington,  and  contributed 
his  part  to  the  social  life  of  the  capital  and  to  the  enter 
tainment  of  strangers,  with  one  of  his  wife's  nieces  to  pre 
side  over  his  table  and  household,  who  will  be  pleasantly 
remembered  by  those  who  shared  his  hospitality  there. 
How  he  accepted  his  bereavement  and  bore  it  like  a  Chris 
tian,  may  be  seen  from  his  reply  to  one  who  extended  his 
sympathy,  and  to  whom  he  wrote  as  follows  :— 

I  am  greatly  obliged  for  your  kind  and  sympathetic  letter.  You 
knew  Mrs.  Buckingham  quite  well,  for  she  carried  her  heart  in  her 
face  and  her  character  was  perfectly  transparent.  There  was  no 
deceit  and  no  guile.  She  humbly  trusted  in  Christ,  lived  to  please 
him,  and  in  the  hour  of  trial  he  was  true  to  his  promise  and  did  not 
forsake  her.  Her  end  was  peaceful.  While  I  sorrow  and  mourn,  I 


454  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

also  rejoice  in  God's  goodness  tons.  My  heart  was  never  so  large 
before.  Until  now  it  never  held  so  much  sorrow  and  so  much  jay; 
sorrow  that  the  light  of  my  dwelling  is  removed,  and  joy  that  she  has 
gone  where  there  is  "no  need  of  the  sun,  nor  of  the  moon  to  shine, 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  Lamb"  are  the  light  of  her  present 
dwelling  place. 

Governor  Buckingham  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1868,  and  took  his  seat  March,  1869,  for  the 
term  of  six  years.  This  was  the  first  session  of  the  Forty- 
first  Congress,  when  the  Republican  ticket  of  Grant  and 
Colfax  swept  the  country  by  214  electoral  votes,  to  eighty 
for  Seymour  and  Blair.  It  was  the  indorsement  by  the 
country  of  the  administration  which  had  carried  through  the 
war  successfully,  and  especially  disposed  once  and  forever 
of  Secession  and  slavery.  President  Lincoln  had  been 
assassinated  four  years  before,  just  as  he  was  entering  upon 
his  second  term  of  office.  Vice-President  Johnson,  who 
succeeded  to  the  presidency,  soon  broke  away  from  all  sym 
pathy  with  his  party,  and  in  a  strange  and  reckless  way  set  out 
to  defeat  their  plans  of  reconstruction.  What  he  had  done 
added  greatly  to  the  difficulties  of  President  Grant's  position, 
and  multiplied  obstacles  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union. 
Indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  never  to  be  any  end  of 
these  obstacles  and  difficulties.  And  it  only  increases  our 
respect  for  the  statesmanship  and  patriotism  of  the  men 
who  managed  our  national  affairs  through  all  that  perilous 
period,  and  intensifies  our  gratitude  to  that  good  Provi 
dence  which  raised  up  and  guided  our  statesmen,  as  well  as 
inspired  the  nation  with  such  intelligent  and  self-sacrificing 
patriotism. 

And  if  Congress  under  President  Johnson's  administra 
tion,  and  in  spite  of  his  hindrances,  made  a  good  beginning 
in  the  work  of  reconstruction,  and  secured  the  adoption 
of  the  amendments  of  the  Constitution  which  abolished 
slavery,  and  gave  the  freedmen  the  rights  of  citizenship, 
and  received  the  Secession  States  back  into  the  Union,  and 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  455 

all  this  had  been  accomplished  before  General  Grant  came 
to  the  presidency;  still  there  was  work  enough  left,  and 
anp!  of  this  kind,  for  the  new  President  and  his  administra 
tion.  The  new  amendments  of  the  Constitution  were  to  be 
carried  out,  and  the  spirit  of  them  enforced  so  far  as  pos 
sible,  and  this  required  much  and  difficult  legislation. 
Political  disabilities  were  to  be  removed  from  individuals 
and  classes  for  their  connection  with  Secession,  which  was 
done  until  "  more  than  3,000  participators  in  the  rebellion, 
among  them  some  of  the  most  prominent  and  influential, 
were  restored  to  the  full  privileges  of  citizenship ;  the  rule 
being,  in  fact,  that  any  one  who  asked  for  it,  either  through 
himself  or  his  friends,  was  freely  granted  remission  of 
penalty."  Provision  was  also  to  be  made  for  the  national 
debt,  for  taking  off  the  tariff  and  taxes  of  the  war,  and  for 
a  good  banking  system,  all  of  which  was  done  greatly  to 
the  credit  of  President  Grant's  administration.  Before  his 
second  term  of  office  was  ended,  he  had  also  frightened  the 
French  out  of  Mexico,  satisfactorily  settled  our  Alabama 
claims  against  England,  and  adjusted  all  our  boundary  ques 
tions  with  Great  Britain,  some  of  which  had  been  in  dispute 
ever  since  the  government  was  organized,  so  that  he  could 
say  in  one  of  his  last  messages,  and  ninety  years  after  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  war :  "  We  are  permitted  to 
add  that  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States  as  a  nation,  we  are  left  without  a  question  of  dis 
puted  boundary  between  our  territory  and  the  possessions  of 
Great  Britain  on  the  American  continent."  Whatever  may 
be  thought  of  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  annex  St.  Do 
mingo,  the  bitter  and  personal  attacks  made  upon  him  for 
it  in  Congress,  and  by  a  portion  of  the  press,  led  him,  in 
his  last  message  to  Congress,  nearly  six  years  after  the 
controversy  had  closed,  to  restate  his  reasons  for  it,  arid  in 
self-vindication,  he  said :  "  If  my  views  had  been  con 
curred  in,  the  country  would  have  been  in  a  more  pros- 


456  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

perous  condition  to-day,  both  politically  and  financially;" 
and  add^  :  "I  do  not  present  these  views  now  as  a  recom 
mendation  for  a  renewal  of  the  subject  of  annexation,  but 
I  do  refer  to  it  to  vindicate  my  previous  action  in  re 
gard  to  it." 

While  Senator  Buckingham  was  a  reliable  supporter  of 
President  Grant  and  his  administration,  he  was  decidedly 
opposed  to  this  St.  Domingo  project,  and  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  a  friend  thus  characterizes  it :  "  You  may  notice 
the  President's  message  relating  to  St.  Domingo.  The 
message  is  well  enough,  but  the  people  are  not.  I  know 
not  what  follies  the  people  may  commit,  but  to  annex  St. 
Domingo  to  this  government  would  be  folly  and  a  crime. 
Instead  of  being  a  source  of  revenue,  it  will  cost  us  millions 
every  year."  And  when  congratulated  on  the  defeat  of 
the  measure,  he  writes  of  it  as  follows  :  "  You  speak  of 
the  St.  Domingo  question  as  being  at  rest.  I  hope  it  may 
prove  a  permanent  sleep,  but  this  I  do  not  anticipate. 
The  President  may  never  publicly  urge  the  annexation 
of  that  part  of  the  island  again,  but  there  are  men  who 
have  pecuniary  interests  to  be  promoted  by  an  annexation, 
which  will  not  let  it  rest.  Those  most  interested  may  keep 
in  the  background,  but  they  will  push  forward  their  agents, 
who  will  adopt  measures  to  accomplish  their  object,  and 
the  claim  will  be  made  that  they  utter  the  voice  of  the 
people.  This  is  what  I  fear  and  what  I  expect,  and  I  shall 
regard  it  as  a  favorable  Divine  interposition  if  the  scheme 
can  be  finally  defeated." 

It  was  in  such  a  state  of  things,  and  the  legislation  that 
was  required  at  such  a  critical  period  of  our  history,  that 
Senator  Buckingham  entered  the  Senate,  and  for  six  of 
those  important  years  of  President  Grant's  administration, 
he  gave  the  President  his  confidence  and  support.  In  all 
those  matters  of  reconstruction  and  adjustment  to  the  new 
order  of  things  which  kept  coming  up,  and  in  those  "  car- 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  457 

pet-bagger"  corruptions,  and  "  Ku-Klux "  outrages,  and 
"Credit  Mobilier"  frauds,  he  bore  his  share  of  responsi 
bility  of  investigation  and  judgment.  But  it  was  particularly 
in  hard  and  faithful  committee  work  upon  currency  and 
commerce,  and  especially  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Indian  Affairs,  and  chairman  of  a  special  committee  to 
investigate  frauds  in  the  New  York  Customhouse,  that 
he  displayed  his  good  judgment  and  even  temper  and 
conscientious  regard  for  the  highest  standard  of  personal 
integrity. 

One  of  his  early  speeches  in  the  Senate  was  upon  the 
removal  of  disabilities  and  the  restoration  of  political  privi 
leges  to  those  who  had  been  implicated  in  the  rebellion. 
And  from  one  who  held  to  such  strict  principles  of  justice 
and  retribution  for  such  a  crime  as  treason  (which  we  all 
of  us  cherished  in  the  stress  of  the  war,  and  which  were 
only  modified  when  the  South  surrendered,  and  we  were 
ready  to  welcome  them  back  upon  almost  any  terms),  it 
was  perhaps  hardly  to  have  been  expected  that  he  should 
have  been  so  lenient  and  magnanimous  toward  such  crimi 
nals.  It  was  within  a  month  after  President  Lincoln's  as 
sassination  that  he  thus  expressed,  in  his  annual  message 
to  the  Legislature,  the  general  sentiment  of  loyal  people : — 

Leniency  without  distinction  between  loyalty  and  treason,  is 
more  certain  to  subvert  the  government  than  is  rebellion  itself. 
Clemency  at  the  sacrifice  of  justice,  is  abandonment  of  the  govern 
ment.  Every  field  of  carnage,  every  rebel  prison,  every  soldier's 
grave,  and  the  blood  of  the  martyred  President,  unite  with  a  violated 
law  and  demand  the  penalty.  Let  it  be  inflicted,  beginning  with  the 
leaders  in  crime,  and  let  it  be  followed  up  with  a  firm  hand  until  the 
innocent  and  the  loyal  shall  be  conscious  of  security  under  the  vindi 
cated  majesty  of  the  law.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  may  we  safely 
restore  forfeited  rights,  and  extend  forgiveness  with  a  beneficent 
prodigality. — [Message  of  1864. 

No  wonder  Senator  Platt,  in  referring  to  this  utterance 
at  the  unveiling  of  his  statue,  asks :  "  Who  shall  say 


458  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

that  he  was  wholly  wrong  ?     And  yet  he  was  one  of  the 
kindest  of  men,  full  of  the  tenderest  sympathy,  ready  to 
overlook  a  fault,  with  an  almost  womanly  love   for  his 
friends.     Who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  mistaken  clemency 
which   pardons  unrepentant  crime  ?     Who  shall  say  that 
such  mistakes,  though  lauded  as  generosity,  do  not  in  the 
long  run  bear  bitter  fruit?"     And  yet  with  such  stern 
convictions  of  the  necessity  of  law,  and  penalty,  and  the 
infliction  of  it  upon  such  men  as  the  leaders  in  Secession, 
and  the  instigators  of  a  civil  war,  and  the  inaugurators  of 
such  a  state  of  things  as  led  to  the  assassination  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  the  Senator  from  Connecticut  advocated  the  bill 
for  the  removal  of  legal  and  political  disabilities  from  the 
mass  of  the  Confederates.     He  saw  that  the  state  of  things 
had  changed,  and  that  the  disposition  of  the  conquerors 
was  to  be  generous  and  magnanimous  toward  their  mis 
guided   enemies.      So   many    had   been    relieved    of   their 
disabilities,  that  the  rest  ought  to  be.     So  that  he  now 
welcomed  them    to  "every   right,  every  privilege,   every 
position."     And  he  adds :     "  I  shall  welcome  them,  either 
with  or  without   repentance,  but  with  the  hope — a  hope 
based  on  desire  rather  than  conviction — that   this    relief 
from  merited  punishment,  and  their  full  restoration  to  all 
the  rights  of  citizenship,    will    inspire   their   hearts  with 
loyalty  to  the  government,  and  cause  them  to  be  truly  the 
friends  and  supporters  of  Republican    liberty."      We  all 
feel  alike  satisfied  now,  that  there  was  no  persistent  prose 
cution  of  the  Secessionists,  and  that  there  were  no  martyrs 
made  for  the  South  to  worship,  especially  when  the  era  of 
good  feeling  between  the  South   and   the  North  had  so 
well  begun. 

Through  his  whole  term  of  service  in  the  Senate  he  served 
upon  the  Standing  Committees  on  Commerce,  and  perhaps 
here  was  his  best  work  done,  as  his  business  experience 
and  sound  judgment  were  constantly  selected  for  such 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  459 

service.  Among  other  things,  he  worked  out  with  care  a 
plan  of  elastic  currency,  which,  though  not  adopted,  showed 
his  familiarity  with  the  subject,  and  anxiety  to  perfect  the 
system.  His  ideas  of  national  credit,  and  the  strictest 
responsibility  of  the  government  for  all  its  engagements, 
such  as  the  most  conscientious  individual  would  feel,  he 
insisted  upon,  and  deprecated  the  least  deviation  from  that 
standard.  Thus  he  criticises  at  one  time  the  reactionary 
legislation  of  the  government  upon  its  finances,  as  follows : 
"'Of  the  balance  outstanding  there  is  now  $382,076,837.50 
in  legal  tender  notes,  and  149,102,661.27  in  fractional 
currency.  These  notes  are  not  money.  They  are  evidence 
of  debt  which  the  government  has  promised  to  pay  in  coin, 
the  recognized  currency  of  the  civilized  world.  The  obliga 
tion  is  most  sacred  and  binding,  and  has  so  pressed  upon 
the  national  conscience  that  Congress  has  solemnly  pledged 
the  faith  of  the  government  to  make  provision  at  the 
earliest  practical  period  to  redeem  the  promise,  and  yet  but 
one  step  has  been  taken  with  direct  reference  to  meeting 
those  obligations,  which,  after  the  redemption  of  $44,000,- 
000  of  legal  tender  notes,  was  retracted  by  reissuing 
$28,000,000  of  the  same  irredeemable  paper.  And  now,  in 
stead  of  doing  your  utmost  to  preserve  national  integrity, 
and  maintain  national  faith  by  your  legislation,  you  open 
the  door  for  a  new  issue  of  currency  which  will  diminish 
your  ability  to  redeem  pledges  already  made." 

The  most  discouraging  position  held  by  Senator  Bucking 
ham  was  that  of  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indian 
Affairs,  a  position  which  he  held  for  his  whole  senatorial 
term,  and  yet  this  is  where  he  showed  his  patience,  hopeful 
ness,  and  fidelity  to  a  great  trust.  The  chairman  of  that 
committee  had  need  to  be  always  on  the  watch  against 
some  invasion  of  their  rights.  And  if  he  could  secure 
their  rights  here  and  improve  their  condition  there,  save 
their  lands  from  occupation  or  misappropriation,  improve 


460  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

their  agencies  and  schools,  and  prepare  them  somewhat  for 
their  citizenship  which  should  come,  it  was  all  that  could 
be  expected.  When  Senator  Buckingham  was  put  upon 
that  committee,  he  wrote  as  follows  to  a  friend  :  "  It  is  a 
responsible  and  honorable  position,  but  full  of  embarrass 
ment  and  -difficulty.  Public  sentiment  in  our  States  in  the 
extreme  West  and  Southwest  is  strongly  in  favor  of  their 
extermination  by  direct  and  indirect  means.  But  I  hope 
that  a  remnant  may  be  saved,  civilized  and  Christianized- 
But  what  I.  as  a  senator,  want,  is  that  the  government 
should  deal  with  them  justly  and  mercifully."  And  it 
was  with  this  end  in  view,  that  he  was  always  on  the 
alert  to  protect  his  wards,  and  improve  their  condi 
tion.  As  an  illustration  of  his  work  and  tact  in  doing 
this,  we  remember  how  a  bill  was  introduced  author 
izing  the  arming  of  the  settlers  to  protect  themselves 
against  the  Indians,  when  the  Senator  proposed,  as  an 
amendment,  to  arm  the  Indians  to  protect  themselves 
against  the  settlers,  which,  of  course,  disposed  of  such  a 
measure.  This  was  the  beginning  of  that  work  which 
Senator  Dawes  of  Massachusetts  has  so  successfully  prose 
cuted  until  he  has  secured  to  them,  as  to  the  negro,  a  per 
sonal  title  to  their  property,  and  ultimately  bestowing  upon 
them  the  full  rights  of  citizenship.  This  might  well  satisfy 
any  statesman's  ambition,  to  have  prepared  the  way  for 
and  especially  to  have  secured  to  a  whole  people  of  savages 
all  the  essential  rights  and  privileges  of  the  highest  modern 
civilization.* 


*  Among  those  who  have  greatly  aided  in  bringing  about  the  improved  condition 
of  things  among  both  the  negroes  and  the  Indians,  General  Samuel  C.  Armstrong, 
principal  of  the  Hampton  Institute,  Va.,  should  never  be  forgotten.  The  son  of  a 
missionary  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  he  had  learned  of  his  parents,  as  he  said, 
"never  to  despair  of  the  elevation  of  the  most  degraded  people,  and  also  how  to 
elevate  them,"  had  enlisted  in  the  war  when  a  student  in  Williams  College,  had 
risen  for  services  in  the  field  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general,  and  had  induced  the 
government  to  let  him  enlist  arid  drill  a  colored  regiment  and  then  put  them  into 
•  he  trenches  before  Petersburg,  where  they  did  themselves  credit.  He  was  granted 
a  freedman's  camp  when  the  war  was  over,  where  he  might  educate  coloi'ei^ 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  461 

The  most  thankless  and  disagreeable  work  of  a  congress 
man  must  be  to  investigate  irregularities  in  the  departments 
of  government,  or  to  prosecute  charges  of  corruption 
among  their  own  number,  as  Senator  Buckingham  found  it 
when  chairman  of  the  committee  to  investigate  frauds  in 
the  New  York  Customhouse.  Some  of  his  friends  urged 
him  not  to  undertake  the  work,  but  his  ideas  of  duty  would 
not  allow  him  to  decline  it. 

But  his  senatorial  term  was  nearly  completed,  and  so  was 
his  earthly  work.  That  was  the  long  session  of  Congress, 
and  as  it  continued  quite  into  the  summer,  the  extreme 
heat  and  long  sessions  wore  upon  him  until  he  went  home 
quite  worn  out  and  his  condition  a  great  source  of  anxiety 
to  his  friends.  It  was  hoped  that  rest  would  restore  him, 
and  his  physicians  encouraged  that  hope.  But  it  proved 
that  he  had  a  serious  disease  of  the  liver,  and  though  it 
yielded  somewhat  to  treatment,  and  he  was  not  confined  to 
the  house  through  the  autumn  and  early  winter,  his  disease 
was  making  steady  progress,  and  terminated  in  death  after 
a  brief  confinement  to  his  bed.  He  died  at  his  home  in 
Norwich,  Ct.,  February  5,  1875,  at  twenty  minutes  past 
12  in  the  morning,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

teachers  for  the  South,  and  where  Indian  youth  of  both  sexes  have  since  been 
received  and  sent  back  to  their  tribes  with  the  elements  of  education  and  ordinary 
civilization.  He  has  demonstrated  beyond  a  question  the  practicability  of  such  a 
scheme,  and  surprised  everybody  by  its  marked  success.  Captain  Pratt,  also  of 
the  regular  army,  and  principal  of  the  Indian  school  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  should  have 
his  share  also  in  the  glory  of  such  results. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

ESTIMATES  OP  CHARACTER  AND  SERVICE. 

Extracts  from  the  Newspaper  Articles  Drawn  out  by  Governor  Buck 
ingham's  Death — Eulogies  in  Congress — The  Funeral  Services. 

As  showing  how  his  death  affected  the  community,  we 
refer  to  an  article  in  one  of  the  Norwich  papers — The 
Bulletin : — 

ENTERED  INTO  REST. 

Death  of  the  Hon.  William  A.  Buckingham — The  Laxt  of 
Connecticut's  War  Governor  and  Senator — Close  of  a 
Spotless  Life,  and  End  of  a  Brilliant  Career. 

The  Hon.  William  A.  Buckingham  died  at  his  home  in  this  city  last 
night.  Mr.  Buckingham  had  been  in  ill  health  for  several  months, 
and  grave  apprehensions  of  its  result  had  been  entertained.  On 
Saturday  last  he  drove  out  and  that  evening  appeared  as  bright  and 
cheerful  as  usual.  On  Sunday,  however,  he  seemed  very  much  pros 
trated,  and  subsequently  was  seized  with  intense  pain,  for  the  allevi 
ation  of  which  opiates  were  administered.  Up  to  this  time,  although 
feared,  no  symptoms  of  positive  disease  had  shown  themselves, 
his  failing  health  being  attributed  to  general  causes.  Dr.  Smith 
of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  Yale  College,  was  summoned  on 
Monday  and  reached  his  bedside  at  5  o'clock  p.  M.*  On  examination 
it  seemed  that  the  obscure  disease  which  he  had  feared  at  a  former 
visit,  had  developed  into  active  inflammation  of  the  liver  and  bowels, 
and  from  this  time  no  hope  was  entertained  of  his  recovery.  But 
little  could  be  done  to  mitigate  his  sufferings.  On  Thursday  he  be 
came  insensible,  and  though  he  appeared  to  rally,  there  was  nothing 
more  than  circulation  and  respiration  to  show  that  he  still  lived.  He 
died  calmly  and  peacefully  without  pain,  his  breath  and  pulse  grow- 


*  It  was  Dr.  David  P.  Smith,  an  army  surgeon  through  the  war,  and  at  one  time 
at  the  head  of  the  medical  department  of  General  Thomas'  Western  army. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  468 

ing  fainter  and  slower  until  they  ceased.  All  that  could  be  done  by 
his  devoted  friends  was  done  until  he  quietly  expired  at  twenty  min 
utes  past  12  o'clock. 

Mr.  Buckingham  was  born  in  the  town  of  Lebanon,  May  28th,  1804. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  in  that  place,  and  until  he  was  eighteen  he 
assisted  in  the  general  work  of  the  farm.  He  then  taught  school  in 
Lyme  for  a  year,  and  shortly  after,  at  the  age  of  about  twenty,  entered 
a  dry  goods  store  in  this  city  as  a  clerk.  His  education  was  that  fur 
nished  by  the  academy  of  his  native  village,  and  also  by  the  superior 
advantages  of  Bacon  Academy,  Colchester.  Though  he  developed  an 
aptitude  for  study  and  especially  for  mathematics,  his  nature  was  too 
strong  and  practical  to  admit  of  the  sedentary  habits  of  a  student, 
and  he  decided  upon  entering  mercantile  pursuits.  When  only 
twenty-one  he  established  himself  in  the  dry  goods  business,  in  which 
he  continued  till  1848.  Energy,  prudence  and  economy  brought  him 
success,  and  while  still  a  young  man  he  was  known  as  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  and  prosperous  merchants  of  the  city.  In  or  about 
1830  he  commenced  the  manufacture  of  ingrain  carpeting,  a  business 
which  he  prosecuted  till  1848,  when  he  retired  from  commercial  pur 
suits,  and  devoted  himself  solely  to  the  various  manufactures  in 
which  he  had  by  this  time  become  largely  interested.  His  chief  con 
nection  in  this  line  was  with  the  Hay  ward  Rubber  Company,  of  which 
he  was  for  many  years  treasurer  and  active  director,  though  he  was  a 
stockholder  in  a  number  of  other  concerns. 

From  the  time  of  his  first  residence  in  Norwich,  he  was  a  practical 
temperance  man,  and  a  devoted  friend  of  education.  In  1830  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Second  Congregational  church,  and  ten 
years  later  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Broadway  church,  being 
elected  one  of  its  deacons  at  that  time  and  holding  the  office  to  the 
period  of  his  death.  For  nearly  forty  years  he  was  a  teacher  in  the 
Sunday  school,  and  his  influence  was  always  exerted  in  favor  of  the 
religious  and  educational  movements  of  the  time.  In  his  charities 
toward  these  and  every  other  good  cause,  he  was  proverbially  gener 
ous.  He  gave  the  organ  to  the  Broadway  church,  and  subsequently 
built  its  mission  chapel.  To  this  church  and  the  church  in  Lebanon 
he  gave  permanent  funds.  He  gave  largely  to  the  Free  Academy,  and 
also  to  Yale  College,  his  life  being  insured  for  the  benefit  of  the  Yale 
Divinity  school.  He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  consolidation  of 
the  school  districts  of  Norwich,  and  the  present  admirable  system  of 
graded  schools  is  largely  due  to  his  foresight  and  energy.  During  the 
war  he  not  only  refused  to  receive  any  remuneration  for  his  services 
as  Governor,  but  met  a  large  portion  of  his  official  expenses  from  his 
private  purse.  He  was  a  man  of  great  liberality,  and  one  whose  ear 
was  never  closed  to  the  cry  of  distress.  In  his  private  charities  he 
was  equally  generous,  and  these  amount  to  a  much  greater  sum  than 


464  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

his  public  gifts.  He  loved  to  do  good  unostentatiously,  und  while 
no  man  was  recognized  as  a  more  generous  giver,  no  one  can  know 
how  far  his  benefactions  extended.  Not  alone  to  the  circles  of  political 
and  social  life  in  which  his  days  were  .passed,  will  the  announcement 
of  his  death  bring  sorrow;  there  are  scores  of  homes  in  Norwich 
where  want  is  struggling  with  industry,  on  which  it  will  fall  with  a 
sense  of  personal  bereavement,  and  many  others  where  it  will  be  read 
with  tears  as  over  the  loss  of  a  friend  and  benefactor. 

Up  to  the  year  1849  he  took  no  prominent  part  in  politics,  though 
his  ability,  high  standing  and  great  popularity  made  him  eminently 
eligible  as  a  candidate.  In  1842  he  was  nominated  for  the  State  Legis 
lature  but  was  defeated,  and  though  repeatedly  solicited,  declined  to 
run  for  any  office  till  seven  years  later,  when  he  was  elected  Mayor  of 
the  city.  He  held  the  position  two  years,  and  was  re-elected  in  1856 
and  1857.  With  the  disruption  of  the  Whig  party  he  joined  the  Repub 
licans,  and  in  1858  was  by  them  elected  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
holding  the  office  by  consecutive  re-elections  for  a  period  of  eight  years. 

It  was  here  that  he  first  gained  a  national  reputation,  his  name 
throughout  all  the  dark  days  of  the  Rebellion  being  a  synonym  for 
unfaultering  loyalty  and  fidelity  to  the  Union.  Like  John  A.  Andrew 
of  Massachusetts,  he  was  known  as  the  "War  Governor,"  and  like 
him  he  possessed  that  magnetic,  unwavering  earnestness  in  the  cause 
he  espoused,  which  was  a  constant  stimulus  to  all  to  whom  his 
influence  extended.  As  the  men  who  put  on  the  visible  armor  were 
the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  nation  at  that  time,  so  he,  and  those  who 
stood  with  him,  were  the  nerve  and  vital  forces  which  sustained  and 
encouraged  them.  The  incalculable  moral  strength  of  his  position 
was  of  more  value  than  thousands  of  armed  men.  With  all  the  terri 
ble  strain  upon  his  nervous  powers,  with  the  great  demands  made 
unceasingly  upon  his  mind,  with  all  the  heavy  responsibilities  of  his 
office  under  which  a  weaker  man,  though  animated  by  the  same  pure 
patriotism,  would  have  succumbed,  with  all  this  he  never  yielded. 
His  energy  was  untiring,  his  confidence  and  loyalty  unwavering. 
They  were  men  like  him  who  a  century  ago  framed  the  republic; 
they  were  men  like  him  who  saved  it.  His  duties  were  never  per 
functorily  discharged ;  he  was  a  patriot  and  a  man  as  well  as  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  State,  and  those  who  were  associated  with  him  at 
that  time  know  how  ardently  he  gave  his  personal  aid  to  any  work  for 
the  Union.  Whatever  came  to  his  hand,  that  he  did;  whether  packing 
boxes  for  hospital  use,  or  filling  cartridges  in  a  moment  of  emergency, 
he  carried  with  him  that  sanguine,  encouraging  enthusiasm  which 
men  felt  with  a  thrill  in  the  fervid  proclamations  of  the  early  part  of 
the  war.  There  is  perhaps  no  better  illustration  of  his  spirit  than  is 
afforded  in  his  message  in  1863,  just  after  the  bloody  repulse  at  Chan- 
cell  orsville,  when  he  spoke  there  words  of  hope  and  unyielding 


WILLIAM   A.     BUCKINGHAM.  465 

determination :  "The  conflict  inaugurated  at  Sumter  must  go  on 
until  the  government  shall  conquer  or  be  conquered.  Let  no  one  be 
deceived  by  the  artful  device  of  securing  peace  by  a  cessation  of 
hostilities,  or  by  yielding  to  the  claims  of  our  enemies.  A  peace  thus 

obtained  would  cost  a  nation's  birthright Civil  war  is  cruelty. 

Its  fruits  are  desolation,  sorrow  and  death.  Fear,  hesitation  and  a 
timid  use  of  the  forces  of  war  will  eventually  increase  these  terrible 
sufferings.  They  will  be  diminished  by  courage,  vigor  and  severity. 
.  .  .  .  Whatever  of  trial,  suffering  or  privation  may  be  in  store  for  us, 
or  however  long  may  be  the  controversy,  firm  in  the  faith  that  our 
nation  will  be  preserved  in  its  integrity,  let  us  in  adversity  as  well  as 
in  prosperity,  in  darkness  as  in  light,  give  the  administration  our 
counsel,  our  confidence,  and  our  support." 

A  history  of  his  life  at  this  time  would  be  a  history  of  the  state  of 
things  during  the  war,  so  completely  was  he  identified  personally  as 
well  as  officially  with  the  political,  military,  and  social  movements  of 
those  turbulent  times.  He  retired  from  the  gubernatorial  chair  in 
1866,  declining  a  re-election.  For  two  years  he  remained  in  private 
life.  In  1868  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  his  term  not 
being  completed  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  served  on  several  im 
portant  committees,  among  them  that  on  Indian  Affairs,  of  which  he 
was  chairman,  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  and  for  a  time  on  that  on 
Engrossed  Bills,  and  also  on  others  of  a  special  nature.  He  was  capable 
of  a  vast  amount  of  detail  work,  and  it  was  in  this  capacity  that  he 
rendered  his  best  services.  Though  not  often  prominent  in  debate, 
he  was  a  ready  speaker,  his  addresses  being  marked  by  grace  and 
fluency  of  expression,  as  well  as  soundness  of  treatment.  His  judg 
ment  and  ability,  especially  in  matters  of  commercial  and  financial 
importance,  were  recognized,  and  his  opinions  on  questions  of  national 
policy  carried  great  weight.  During  the  present  session  of  Congress 
he  was  prevented  by  ill  health  from  discharging  the  duties  of  his 
office,  and  remained  at  his  home  in  this  city  during  the  winter. 

In  private  life  Senator  Buckingham  was  characterized  by  great 
sweetness  of  disposition  and  an  urbane  courtesy  in  his  social  relations 
which  won  the  sincere  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  was  personally  in 
contact.  His  observance  of  the  social  amenities  was  not  limited  by 
class  prejudice ;  no  one,  however  humble  in  condition,  ever  received 
from  him  any  but  the  courteous  consideration  which  was  extended  to 
his  own  associates,  and  in  this  undoubtedly  lay  one  of  the  most 
powerful  elements  of  his  great  personal  popularity.  He  possessed 
that  polished  dignity  of  manner  which  we  of  this  day  characterize  as 
the  gentility  of  the  old  school,  and  the  refinement  of  its  minor  details 
was  strongly  marked  in  all  his  habits  of  life.  This  was  not  the  result 
of  his  birth  or  breeding;  it  was  simply  the  outgrowth  of  his  nature, 
in  which  there  was  nothing  common  or  unclean.  He  was  one  of 


466  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

those  rare  men  to  whom  all  things  are  pure,  who  recognizing  the  gross- 
ness  of  the  world,  can  meet  it  and  pass  on  undefiled;  and  the  refine 
ment  of  his  manner  was  merely  the  exponent  of  the  refinement  and 
purity  of  his  taste.  This  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  strong 
religious  convictions  which  he  received  in  early  life,  and  by  which  he 
was  controlled  until  his  death.  He  was  widely  known  as  an  exem 
plary,  laborious  Christian,  and  no  man  better  deserved  than  lie  the 
title  which  has  been  applied  to  others  in  derision,  of  "Christian 
statesman."  His  religion  was  not  reserved  for  the  uses  of  private 
life;  the  great  underlying  principles  of  Christianity  were  those  whose 
motive  force  directed  him  in  all  his  official  action,  and  his  public 
career  was  in  thorough  consistence  with  them. 

In  the  words  quoted  above  may  be  found  the  formula  of  his  polit 
ical  life,  and  to  the  end  of  it  was  the  one  to  which  he  clung.  He 
believed  in  the  great  principle  of  exact  and  equal  justice  to  all  men; 
his  political  creed  was  based  on  this  one  article,  and  through  all 
his  political  career  his  action  was  in  harmony  with  it.  He  was 
a  partisan,  not  in  the  narrow  interpretation  of  the  word,  but  in 
that  broader  sense  which  makes  fealty  to  party  dependent  upon  fealty 
to  right.  He  was  not  a  politician,  neither  was  he  a  great  statesman, 
but  he  was  great  in  his  probity,  patriotism  and  purity  of  life,  and 
unobtrusively  he  wielded  a  vast  influence  for  the  good.  His  associ 
ates  know  him  for  what  he  was.  During  his  continuance  in  the 
Senate,  no  member  was  recognized  as  a  more  assiduous,  conscientious 
worker  in  the  country's  service  for  the  country's  good  than  he,  and 
none  carried  more  weight  with  his  utterances  on  any  subject.  His 
recognized  ability,  his  never-questioned  integrity,  and  his  adherence 
to  principle,  will  be  sadly  missed  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  Not 
many  men  there  are,  whose  characters  have  been  developed  and 
whose  reputations  made  in  the  unhealthy  atmosphere  of  political  life, 
who  can  leave  behind  the  bright,  unsullied  record  which  the  dead 
Senator  has  left.  His  memory  will  be  ever  green  and  fragrant;  no 
taint  of  political  corruption  adheres  to  it;  no  malevolence  can  ever 
tarnish  the  purity  of  his  life.  In  public  and  in  private  life,  like  him 
who  was  loved  of  God,  he  walked  uprightly  before  men.  And  with  the 
full  remembrance  of  all  the  honors  which  had  been  pressed  upon  him. 
of  all  the  great  successes  of  his  life,  no  better  or  truer  epitaph  can  be 
produced  over  his  grave  than  that  which  he  himself  would  have 
desired:  "A  man  of  honor,  and  a  Christian  gentleman." 

The  above  article  is  quoted  as  showing  the  estimation  in 
which  Senator  Buckingham  was  held  in  his  own  State,  and 
in  the  community  where  he  was  best  known.  And  a  simi 
lar  quotation  is  made  from  one  of  the  New  York  papers, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  467 

The  Times,  as  showing  how  he  was  regarded  outside  of 
Connecticut,  and  in  the  great  metropolitan  center  of  the 
country : — 

Ex-Governor  and  Senator  William  A.  Buckingham  died  at  his  home 
in  Norwich,  Conn.,  about  midnight  last  night.  Governor  Buckingham 
approached  the  time  of  the  assembling  of  Congress  this  winter  with 
a  frame  enfeebled  by  disease,  and  has  been  unable  to  take  his  seat  in 
the  Senate  at  any  time  during  the  session.  The  vigor  of  the  physical 
man  was  broken,  and  he  gradually  failed  until  he  sank  beneath  an 
attack  of  acute  disease,  leaving  to  his  native  State  a  name  eminent 
for  its  spotless  purity  and  sterling  virtue. 

He  was  born  in  the  quaint  old  town  of  Lebanon,  eminent  in  Con 
necticut  from  its  first  settlement  for  the  fervid  patriotism  and  the  in 
tellectual  activity  of  its  people.  This  town  is  the  birthplace  of  five 
gentlemen  who  have  enjoyed  gubernatorial  honors,  viz. :  Jonathan 
Trumbull,  the  old  War  Governor  of  the  Revolution,  whom  in  many 
respects  the  War  Governor  of  the  Rebellion,  Governor  Buckingham, 
resembled  to  a  remarkable  degree ;  his  son  Jonathan  Trumbull,  and 
his  grandson  Joseph  Trumbull,  also  Governor  Bissell,  who  together 
held  that  office  thirty-five  years.  Governor  Nelson  Dewey  of  Wis 
consin  was  also  a  native  of  this  town.  Inheriting  the  iron  constitu 
tion  and  intense  convictions  of  his  Puritan  ancestry,  William  A 
Buckingham  spent  there  a  profitable  youth,  forming  upon  the  farm  of 
his  father,  and  in  the  schools  of  the  vicinity,  the  strength  of  charac 
ter  and  love  of  country  that  enabled  him  afterwards  to  bring  to  the 
service  of  the  State  an  exalted  patriotism  and  devotion  not  surpassed 
m  the  history  of  our  civil  war.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Lebanon,  and  at  the  Bacon  Academy  in  the  neighboring  town  of 
Colchester,  which  institution  at  that  time  stood  higher  than  any 
other  in  the  State,  and  even  enjoyed  a  national  reputation.  Here 
Governor  Ellsworth,  Chief  Justice  Waite  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Con 
necticut,  father  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Waite  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States;  Hon.  Henry  M.  Williams,  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Lyman  Trumbull,  Senator  from  Illinois 
were  students,  among  a  host  of  others,  who  afterwards  were  prominent 
m  public  life.  Among  associates  of  that  stamp,  and  in  a  town  asso 
ciated  with  a  thousand  thrilling  Revolutionary  memories  William  A 
Buckingham  rose  to  manhood.  A  special  taste  for  mathematics  and 

•  impulses  of  an  energetic  nature,  led  him  at  first  to  desire  the 
career  of  a  practical  surveyor.  But  neither  that,  nor  school  teaching 
to  which  he  devoted  himself  for  a  year,  satisfied  him.  He  went  to 
Korwich  at  the  age  of  twenty  and  engaged  in  business.  He  entered 
the  store  of  Giles  &  Hamlin  Buckingham,  then  almost  the  only  dry 
goods  dealers  in  the  city.  After  two  years  spent  there,  and  a  year  in 


468  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

a  wholesale  house  of  New  York  city,  he  established  himself  as  a  dry 
goods  merchant  at  Norwich.  The  enterprise,  exact  dealing,  and  spot 
less  honor,  that  have  always  distinguished  him,  were  manifested  from 
the  beginning  of  his  first  business  essay,  and  contributed  to  his  suc 
cess.  In  1830  he  began  the  manufacture  of  ingrain  carpets,  and  con 
ducted  it  for  eighteen  years.  In  1848  he  discontinued  all  other  forms 
of  business  effort,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  india-rubber 
goods  in  connection  with  Messrs.  Hayward  &  Burr,  under  the  name 
of  the  Hayward  Rubber  Company.  In  this  business  he  amassed 
the  generous  fortune  which  he  has  so  lavishly  bestowed  to  aid  public, 
educational  and  charitable  enterprises  in  the  city  of  his  residence, 
the  State  and  nation.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  stockholder 
in  six  or  eight  manufacturing  enterprises,  to  all  of  which  he  gave 
more  or  less  of  his  time  and  attention.  The  characteristic  feature  of 
his  long  individual  and  mechanical  life  was  not  so  much  the  execu 
tive  ability  he  displayed,  for  that  is  a  trait  which  hundreds  of  New 
England  manufacturers  possess,  in  equal  if  not  superior  degrees;  but 
it  was  the  infallible  keeping  of  his  business  engagements,  his  genius 
for  managing  men,  and  ability  to  awaken  enthusiasm  in  his  service. 
It  is  told  of  him,  in  illustration  of  his  punctuality  in  business  affairs, 
that  in  a  period  of  active  effort  of  forty  years'  duration,  only  two  of 
his  notes  were  protested  for  non-payment,  and  those  only  through 
disability  from  sickness.  The  trait  powerfully  increased  his  useful 
ness  during  the  war. 

William  A.  Buckingham  adhered  to  the  religion  of  his  forefathers. 
Descended  from  Thomas  Buckingham,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
original  colony  of  Now  Haven,  and  from  the  Rev.  Thomas,  his  eon, 
who  was  one  of  the  settlers  and  minister  of  Saybrook,  and  from 
whom  the  Governor  was  directly  descended,  he  was  trained  in  a 
family  of  Puritans,  and  gave  his  life-long  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
Congregational  church.  In  1838  he  made  a  report  to  the  Second  Con 
gregational  church  of  Norwich,  which  resulted  four  years  after  in 
the^formation  of  the  present  Broadway  church.  He  gave  the  new 
church  an  organ,  and  built  a  chapel  for  one  of  its  Sunday  schools.  In 
1865  he  was  moderator  of  the  first  National  Congregational  Council 
in  Boston.  In  1850  he  with  others  founded  the  Otis  Library  of  Nor 
wich.  He  was  proverbially  liberal  in  his  support  to  all  such  objects. 
Large  benevolence,  a  desire  to  do  something  for  the  race  and  the  age, 
led  him  to  bestow  generous  gifts  upon  the  Norwich  Free  Academy 
and  Yale  College.  And  all  his  gifts  were  entirely  devoid  of  ostentation. 

Governor  Buckingham  was  always  a  decided  politician.  For  many 
years  his  interest  in  affairs  was  only  actively  manifested  in  the  manage 
ment  of  party.  Things  were  continually  going  wrong  with  the  old 
Whig  party  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  and  William  A.  Buckingham  was 
almost  always  the  man  called  in  to  set  things  right,  which  in  a  quiet 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  469 

sort  of  way,  by  his  personal  influence,  he  had  a  magical  faculty  of  doing 
He  declined  several  nominations  to  the  State  Assembly,  but  like  an 
eminent  official  whom  he  afterwards  met  under  peculiar  circum 
stances,  was  often  elected  alderman  of  the  city  of  Norwich,  and  in 
1849  and  1856  was  twice  elected  mayor  for  terms  of  two  years  each. 
In  1857,  at  the  time  of  the  election  of  President  Buchanan,  he  was  a 
presidential  elector  from  Connecticut,  and  with  his  associates  cast 
the  vote  of  the  State  for  the  minority  candidate,  a  common  experience 
with  the  old  Whig  party.  In  1857  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  Norwich 
resolved  to  propose  him  as  the  Republican  candidate  for  Governor  of 
the  State.  By  the  simple  circumstance  of  the  detention  by  snow  of  a 
train  bearing  fifteen  or  twenty  delegates  from  Windham  county,  who 
would  have  voted  for  him,  they  failed  to  nominate  him.  There  are 
those  among  his  friends  that  now  regard  this  as  a  providential  occur 
rence.  Had  he  been  chosen  in  1857,  by  the  rule  upon  which  the  party 
acted  then,  he  would  have  been  re-elected  and  then  retired,  without 
an  opportunity  of  showing  his  singular  fitness  for  the  position  of 
war  governor  of  Connecticut.  But  elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of 
the  State  in  1858,  he  was  upon  re-election  brought  so  near  to  the  mael 
strom  of  events  attendant  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  that 
public  necessity  compelled  the  State  to  continue  him  in  office,  and  he 
made  his  distinguished  record. 

"At  the  close  of  1860,  Governor  Buckingham,  who  had  been  watch 
ing  the  drift  of  public  events  carefully,  announced  the  conviction  that 
compromise  with  the  South  was  an  impossibility,  and  he  required  of 
the  militia  of  the  State  their  immediate  perfection  in  discipline  and 
equipment.  In  his  capacity  of  Governor  of  a  patriotic  State,  he  sug 
gested  to  the  delegates  of  the  State  in  the  peace  conference  of  Feb 
ruary,  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  to  be  governed  by  a 
conciliatory  spirit,  but  to  have  special  regard  to  the  measures  which 
tend  to  maintain  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  government."  He 
never  was  a  policy  man,  and  there  was  something  electrical  in  his 
fearless  and  uncompromising  words  that  roused  the  State  to  enthusi 
asm.  The  right  man  was  at  the  helm,  and  in  the  spring  canvass  he 
was  re-elected  by  the  State  by  an  increased  majority.  The  call  for 
troops  awakened  in  Governor  Buckingham  the  spirit  of  the  soldier 
and  the  leader.  The  Legislature  was  not  in  session;  no  powers  had 
been  conferred  upon  him  by  law.  With  an  energy  and  devotion 
worthy  of  the  Revolutionary  patriots  of  Lebanon,  he  immediately  re 
solved  to  pledge  his  own  ample  fortune  to  the  work  of  raising  Con 
necticut's  quota  of  troops.  His  life  of  unsullied  integrity  and 
reputation  for  sound  judgment  here  stood  him  in  good  stead.  Hardly 
had  he  determined  to  apply  for  a  loan  of  $50,000  from  the  old  Thames 
bank  of  Norwich,  before  that  sum  was  tendered  him  by  the  Elm 
City  bank  of  New  Haven,  for  use  on  his  individual  obligation.  The 


470  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Thames  bank  followed  by  $100,000;  Hartford  banks  united  to  offer 
$500,000,  and  in  a  comparatively  few  days  $1,000,000  had  thus  been 
placed  at  his  personal  disposal  by  the  banking  institutions  of  the 
State.     His  call  for  a  regiment  of    men  was  immediately  issued. 
While  the  State  was  aglow  with  the  excitement  of  enlisting  these 
men,    Governor    Buckingham    dispatched    his    son-in-law.    General 
Aiken,  to  Washington,  to  make  his  way  through  all  obstructions,  at 
whatever  hazard,  and  pledge  to  President  Lincoln  the  last  man  and 
the  last  dollar  of  Connecticut.     General  Aiken  had  a  great  deal  of 
difficulty  in  accomplishing  his  mission,  but  did  succeed  at  length, 
and  brought  to  the  government  the  first  tidings  received  during  that 
perilous  first  week  of  the  rising  of  the  North.     The  First  Regiment  of 
Connecticut  volunteers  was  raised  in  four  days.     In  six  days  a  second 
regiment  was  enlisted,   and  in  three  weeks  a  third  regiment  was 
raised  and  in  camp,  and  Connecticut  had  tendered  fifty-four  com 
panies  to  the  defense  of  Washington,  or  five  times  the  quota  of  the 
State.     These  achievements  were  due   to  the  personal   power   and 
promptitude  of  Governor  Buckingham,  more  than  to  any  other  one 
thing.     May  3d  the    Legislature  ratified  all  that  the  Governor  had 
done,  and  assumed  all  obligations  for  raising  the  troops.     Whatever 
may  have  been  the  motives  or  influences  that  impelled  men  of  great 
eminence  at  Washington  to  announce  their  belief  in  a  termination  of 
the  war  in  "sixty  days,"  Governor  Buckingham  did  not  share  them. 
He  perceived  the  magnitude  of  the  rebellion  clearly,  and  was  em 
phatic  in  his  statements  that  the  sixty-day  doctrine  immensely  under 
estimated  the  importance  of  the  crisis.      In  June  he  wrote  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  urging  that  steps  be  taken  to  raise  an  army  of  500,000  men. 
**  Let  legislation  on  every  other  subject,"  he  said,  with  reference  to 
the  extra  session  of  Congress  called,  "  be  regarded  as  out  of  time  and 
place,  and  the  one  great  object  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  be  pur 
sued  by  the  administration  with  vigor  and   firmness."      Governor 
Buckingham  fully  believed  that  more   men  would  be  immediately 
required,  and  he  lent  every  capacity  of  mind  and  soul  to  the  matter 
of  awakening  the  State  and  the  government  to  the  fact.    Ex-Governor 
Seymour  and  William  W.  Eaton  were  carrying  on  a  vigorous  fire  in 
the  rear  at  this  time  and  agitating  strenuously  for  peace.     In  spite  of 
their  efforts,  the  State  remained  loyal  to  Governor  Buckingham  and 
the  Union,  and  it  shows  the  effect  of  his  teachings  on  the  popular 
heart  of  Connecticut,  that  in  October  the  Legislature  convened  in 
special  session  and  gave  him  carte  blanche  to  act  in  the  matter  of  rais 
ing  troops.    Two  million  dollars  were  raised,  in  addition  to  the  $2,- 
000,000  already  provided  for,  and  were  placed  at  the  unrestricted  dis 
posal  of  Governor  Buckingham.     It  was  a  proof  of  confidence  in  his 
judgment  and  patriotism,  which  the  records  of  the  imperial  States  of 
the  Union  will  be  searched  in  vain  to  surpass. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  471 

Governor  Buckingham  was  re-elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
State  seven  times,  serving  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  Throughout 
the  war  his  course  was  marked  by  the  same  intrepid  support  of  the 
administration  that  distinguished  its  beginning.  The  calls  of  the 
government  were  always  more  than  faithfully  honored.  Every  quota 
was  more  than  filled,  and  a  moral  support  was  brought  to  the  eman 
cipation  and  other  great  measures  of  the  war  that  the  administration 
thoroughly  appreciated.  No  war  governor  had  greater  influence  at 
Washington.  Anything  he  wanted  for  the  troops  in  the  field  was 
granted.  Where  others  failed  he  succeeded,  and  the  advantage  to 
which  he  turned  this  fact  in  securing  benefits  for  the  troops,  together 
with  his  well-known  private  benefactions  to  soldiers  at  home,  earned 
for  him  the  title  of  "the  soldier's  friend, "  a  phrase  which  bore  a 
world  of  meaning  to  those  who  knew  him. 

Governor  Buckingham's  course  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassi 
nation  was  fully  illustrative  of  the  man.  From  the  date  of  his 
majority  he  had  been  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  cause  of  temperance, 
and  a  few  weeks  prior  to  the  assassination  had  electrified  the  nation 
by  one  of  those  sword-like  thrusts  at  culpability  in  high  places,  for 
which  he  was  noted.  In  his  proclamation  of  the  annual  Fast  Day  in 
Connecticut,  issued  March  15,  he  had  recited,  among  the  causes  for 
pain,  that  "the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  and  to  high  official 
duty,  has  recently  been  taken  with  a  stammering  tongue,  in  the  pres 
ence  of,  and  to  the  reproach  of,  the  American  people."  This  keen 
rebuke  to  a  national  shame  was  announced  throughout  the  country. 
Under  these  circumstances,  almost  any  other  man  beside  Governor 
Buckingham  would  have  hesitated  to  go  immediately  to  Washington, 
as  he  did,  to  convey  to  President  Johnson  the  assurances  of  Connec 
ticut's  determination  to  yield  him  a  loyal  support.  This,  however, 
was  what  Governor  Buckingham  did  at  once.  He  left  Norwich  by 
the  afternoon  train  of  Saturday  for  the  national  capital.  A  party 
was  formed  to  escort  him,  and  also  to  escort  Senator  Foster  of  Nor 
wich,  who  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  became  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  composed  of  General  Aiken,  Colonels  Osgood 
and  Selden,  Henry  Bell,  Mayor  Day,  Lorenzo  Blackstone,  Doctor 
Thurston  and  Major  J.  B.  Dennis.  They  reached  Washington  the 
following  day,  and  immediately  repaired  to  the  presence  of  Presi 
dent  Johnson,  to  whom  Senator  Foster  introduced  them.  Governor 
Buckingham  grasped  Mr.  Johnson's  hand  warmly,  and  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  pledged  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  the  unfaltering 
support  of  Connecticut,  and  was  the  first  Governor  in  that  crisis  who 
did  so.  Mr.  Johnson  was  greatly  moved,  and  earnestly  assured  the 
Governor  that,  whatever  the  past,  no  one  should  surpass  him  in  the 
future,  in  purity  of  devotion  to  the  Union. 

In  1869  Governor  Buckingham  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 


472  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

United  States.  The  record  of  his  connection  with  that  body  has 
been  a  creditable  one.  He  was  capable  of  an  unlimited  amount  of 
hard  work,  and  it  was  upon  the  various  committees  of  the  Senate 
that  his  influence  was  most  felt.  Throughout  the  term  of  six  years 
he>has  served  upon  the  Standing  Committees  on  Commerce  and  Indian 
Relations,  and  twice  served  on  special  committees,  once  to  investi 
gate  the  affairs  of  the  New  York  Customhouse,  and  once  to  investigate 
the  charges  of  bribery  against  Senator  Pomeroy.  He  participated 
frequently  in  debate,  and  exerted  a  marked  influence  in  financial 
and  Indian  questions  by  his  candor,  sound  judgment,  and  graceful 
method  of  presentation  of  what  he  had  to  say.  It  is,  however,  as 
War  Governor  of  Connecticut  that  he  will  be  the  longest  and  most 
widely  known. 

In  his  social  life  Governor  Buckingham  was  an  attractive  man. 
Whoever  met  him,  either  in  his  elegant  home  in  Norwich,  or  in 
social  circles  at  the  State  and  national  capitals,  never  failed  to  be  won 
by  his  charming  manner.  He  had  all  the  dignity  of  the  old  school 
gentleman  and  the  affability  of  the  thorough-going  Republican,  and 
while  he  knew  all  the  advantages  accruing  to  a  public  man  from  the 
possession  of  these  traits,  it  was  well  said  of  him  that  these  qualities 
were  the  natural  product  of  the  man.  He  was  of  the  best  type  of  a 
Christian  gentleman  that  society  produces.  And  statesman,  citizen 
and  soldier  alike,  will  cast  upon  the  grave  of  William  A.  Bucking 
ham  not  only  laurels  due  to  distinguished  public  worth,  but  the 
flowers  of  affection  and  admiration  for  what  he  was  as  a  man. 

THE  LAST  OF  EARTH. 

A  Day  of  Sorrow— Funeral  of  the  Late  William  A.  Bucking 
ham—Sincere  Manifestations  of  G-rief—An  Impressive 
Civic  Funeral — The  Public  Services. 

The  above  is  the  announcement  of  his  funeral  which  took 
place  at  Norwich,  the  9th  of  February,  1875.  And  the 
account  continues : — 

The  last  honors  to  Connecticut's  War  Governor  and  Senator  were 
paid  Tuesday.  They  were  given  in  no  perfunctory  spirit,  but  with  a 
depth  of  feeling  and  a  tenderness  of  expression  which  showed  how 
strong  a  hold  the  dead  Senator  had  upon  the  people.  Though  the 
day  was  one  of  bitter  cold,  the  streets  were  filled  with  hundreds  from 
out  of  town,  many  of  them  having  driven  twenty  miles  or  more  in  the 
early  morning  to  reach  the  city,  and  the  later  trains  were  crowded 
with  others  from  all  parts  of  the  State  and  country. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  473 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  was  represented  by  its 
Sergeant-at-arms  and  Senators  Sherman  of  Ohio,  Stevenson 
of  Kentucky,  Fen  ton  of  New  York,  Washburn  of  Massa 
chusetts,    and    Hamlin    of    Maine.      Governor    Ingersoll 
of   Connecticut   and   his   staff   were   also   there,  as   were 
Governor  Buckingham's  old  military  staff,  consisting   of 
Colonel  Osgood,  Colonel  W.  Fitch,  Colonel  T.  Fitch,  Gen 
eral  Morse,  Colonel  Watson   and   Colonel   Bond.     These 
acted  as  a  guard  of  honor  around  his  casket,  while  Colonel 
Selden,  for  three  years  his  military  secretary,  Messrs.  H.  B. 
Norton,  A.   W.   Prentice   and    B.   W.   Tompkins,  his  old 
neighbors  and  friends,  were  the  pall  bearers.     The  train 
from    Hartford    brought   many    friends   from    among   the 
business  men  and  public  men  of  the  State,  who  had  vigor 
ously  sustained  him  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  while 
the  train  from  New  Haven  brought  an  equal  number,  and 
among  them  a  very  considerable  number  of  the  faculty  of 
the  University,  whose  interests  he  had  befriended.     It  was 
meant  to  be  entirely  a  simple  and  ordinary  New  England 
funeral,  with  the  customary  religious  exercises  and  nothing 
else,  such  as  an  ordinary  man  would  prefer.     There  was  no 
military  display  or  ceremony,  and  to  those  of  us  who  had 
witnessed  the  troops  and  grand  parades  of  his  inaugurals 
as  Governor,  it  was  felt  to  be  in   best  keeping  with  his 
character  and  wishes  to  be  looked  upon  for  the  last  time  in 
his  own  home,  borne  thence  to  his  place  of  worship,  and 
thence  followed  to  the  cemetery,  where  his  wife  and  so 
many  of  his  old  neighbors  and  friends  were  sleeping,  to 
rest  among  them. 

Speaking  on  this  point,  the  account  goes  on  to  say : 

It  was  fitting-  that  this  was  so,  for  Senator  Buckingham  was  a  man 
of  the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  it  was  to  the  benefit  of  these 
classes  that  his  best  energies  were  directed.  The  absence  of  empty 
pomp  and  display  was  in  accordance  with  all  his  tastes.  But  no 
nobler  tribute  was  ever  paid  to  the  memory  of  a  public  man,  than 
that  expressed  by  the  great  popular  demonstration  of  Tuesday. 


474  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Throughout  the  day  there  was  a  general  suspension  of  business, 
and  in  the  afternoon  the  banks  and  post  office  were  closed.  All  the 
flags  of  the  city  were  at  half-mast,  and  many  private  buildings  were 
dressed  in  mourning.  At  10  o'clock  the  doors  of  Senator  Bucking 
ham's  residence  were  thrown  open,  and  the  throng  which  had  been 
waiting  for  some  time  began  to  pass  in,  under  the  guidance  of  a  force 
of  police  stationed  in  the  yard.  The  Senator's  remains  lay  in  the 
north  parlor  of  the  house,  in  a  plain,  rosewopd  casket.  A  superb 
crown  fashioned  of  white  flowers  stood  near  the  head,  and  a  cross  and 
anchor  rested  on  the  lid;  on  a  table  near  by  were  another  crown  of 
laurel  and  a  large  form  worked  in  evergreens  and  grains.  Around 
the  casket,  as  a  guard  of  honor,  stood  the  members  of  his  old  military 
staff.  From  10  o'clock  to  12  the  throng  was  continuous  and  dense, 
over  2,000  persons,  it  is  estimated,  visiting  the  house  in  that  time. 
The  throng  was  so  great  that  there  could  be  no  lingering  by  the  coffin, 
and  none  had  more  than  a  momentary  glance  as  they  passed  by,  but 
no  one  who  watched  that  heterogeneous  assemblage  as  it  moved  on, 
and  saw  the  tearful  eyes  which  were  bent  upon  the  well-known  face, 
could  help  recognizing  with  almost  a  sense  of  awe,  how  strong  and 
universal  was  the  love  in  which  the  dead  Senator  was  held.  The  con 
trast  between  tne  peaceful  expression  on  his  face  and  the  mourning, 
which  was  only  in  part  restrained  as  the  wave  of  humanity  rolled  by 
him,  was  touching.  His  countenance  was  calm  and  restful;  death 
had  softened  the  lines  which  care  and  anxiety  had  written  in  it,  and 
though  emaciated  and  worn,  he  looked  like  one  who  being  weary  had 
fallen  into  a  pleasant  sleep.  As  one  stood  beside  him  it  was  hard  to 
realize  that  it  was  the  sleep  from  which  there  was  no  waking;  that 
with  him  all  earthly  toils  and  earthly  honors  were  past,  and  yet  as 
one  looked  at  the  noble  face  with  its  strong,  sharply  cut  features,  it 
was  easy  to  imagine  that  it  was  purified  by  a  new  tenderness;  that  a 
light  from  the  other  world  had  shown  upon  it,  and  that  the  joy 
of  hope  accomplished  and  promises  fulfilled  had  left  their  radi 
ance  there. 

The  doors  of  the  house  were  closed  at  noon,  after  which  no  one  was 
admitted.  The  relatives  and  friends  then  assembled,  and  a  short 
prayer  was  made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Merriman,  the  pastor.  Shortly  after 
1  o'clock  the  casket  was  removed  to  the  hearse  and  was  carried  to 
the  Broadway  church. 

From  the  house  to  the  church  the  street  was  crowded  so 
that  there  was  barely  a  carriage  way  kept  open  for  the  pro 
cession.  The  church  could  not  contain  all  who  would  have 
entered,  and  it  was  a  pathetic  part  of  the  scene  to  find  the 
crowd  waiting  there  in  the  cold  at  zero  until  the  services 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  475 

within  were  over,  to  accompany  the  procession  to  the  ceme 
tery,  a  mile  or  more  away. 

The  services  at  the  church  were  simple.  The  choir 
chanted,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,"  and 
sang,  "Who  are  these  in  bright  array?"  also  Mendelssohn's, 
"  Oh!  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a  dove,"  which  to  some  of  us 
will  be  always  associated  with  his  upward  longings,  and  the 
wish  stirred  within  us  that  we  could  have  joined  him  in  his 
flight.  Dr.  Arms,  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  city,  read  the 
ninetieth  Psalm,  and  the  venerable  Dr.  Bond,  under  whose 
ministry  Senator  Buckingham  had  been  trained  as  a  young 
man,  offered  prayer.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Merriman,  his  pastor, 
then  paid  a  just  and  heart-felt  tribute  to  his  parishioner 
and  deacon  and  good  friend,  and  the  mournful  procession 
set  out  for  the  grave.  Arriving  there,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Giesy, 
one  of  the  Episcopal  clergymen  of  the  city,  read  their  ser 
vice  over  the  interment,  while  a  thousand  hearts  responded 
to  its  Christian  faith  and  immortal  hopes,  and  comforted 
their  grief  in  what  God  had  done  for  their  friend,  and  what 
he  had  done  by  him  for  others,  and  in  the  memory  and 
example  which  would  be  forever  left  to  that  community 
and  become  a  permanent  part  of  the  history  of  the  State 
and  of  the  nation. 

The  death  of  Senator  Buckingham  and  the  remem 
brance  of  his  war  services  called  out  notices  of  him 
from  every  quarter  and  many  an  honorable  tribute  to  his 
memory.  And  the  estimate  of  him  which  came  from  so 
many  quarters,  and  the  tributes  paid  to  his  worth  and  use 
fulness,  furnish  probably  the  best  means  of  judging  of  the 
man  and  of  his  life  work  that  we  could  have. 

One  of  the  early  sketches  of  him  was  by  Professor 
Porter,  afterwards  president  of  Yale  University,  and  pre 
pared  for  the  "New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register  "  (January,  1876).  In  connection  with  a  full  and 
exact  account  of  his  genealogy  and  his  training  for  his 


476  WILLIAM    A.    HUCKINCJHAM. 

public  life,  President  Porter  gives,  from  a  life-long  and 
personal  acquaintance,  the  following  convictions  in  regard 
to  him  : — 

At  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  office  of  Governor,  neither  he  nor 
his  friends  anticipated  what  was  before  him.  Had  either  known  or 
even  dimly  foreboded  that  the  office  from  being  little  more  than  a 
place  of  easy  routine  and  formal  administration,  would  be  suddenly 
transformed  into  a  post  of  the  most  serious  responsibility,  involving 
perplexity,  toil  and  anxiety,  both  he  and  his  friends  would  have  hesi 
tated  in  thinking  that  he  was  the  fittest  man  to  fill  the  place,  and  to 
fill  it  so  long.  No  one  would  have  dared  to  predict  that  he  would 
meet  its  responsibilities  with  such  distinguished  success.  But  in 
review  it  may  be  confidently  affirmed,  that  from  the  time  when  the 
first  mutterings  of  war  were  heard,  to  the  moment  when  they  died 
in  silence,  no  citizen  of  the  State  was  ever  thought  of  as  in  any  re 
spect  superior  to,  or  comparable  with  the  noble  "War  Governor" 
who  represented  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Whether  his  relations  are 
considered  to  the  executive  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Governors  of 
the  other  States,  to  the  party  in  Connecticut  opposed  to  the  war,  to 
the  soldiers  and  officers  from  Connecticut,  to  the  men  who  were  re 
cruited  or  drafted,  who  were  sick  or  in  prison,  to  the  banks  and  men 
of  business  all  over  the  country,  to  the  American  people  as  far  as 
they  knew  him,  his  fitness  for  his  place  was  unquestioned.  Whether 
on  horseback  at  an  election  parade,  or  in  a  public  reception,  whether 
reading  his  own  messages  or  speaking  at  a  sudden  call,  often  under 
very  trying  circumstances,  whether  writing  stirring  letters  to  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  or  addressing  regiment  after  regiment  as  each  hurried 
away  to  the  field,  whether  conferring  with  his  staff  or  trusted  friends 
in  sudden  exigencies,  he  was  always  heroic,  patient,  self-controlled 
and  courteous.  His  messages  and  correspondence  were  not  only 
among  important  documents  in  the  history  of  the  war,  but  they  re 
flect  the  highest  honor  on  the  mind  and  head  of  their  author.  His 
own  clear  and  practical  intellect  discerned  earlier  than  many  prac 
tised  statesmen  what  the  issues  were,  and  how  stern  and  lasting  the 
struggle  would  be.  His  decisive  and  ringing  words  bespoke  serious 
and  painful  forebodings  on  the  one  hand,  but  they  breathed  out 
courage  and  triumph  on  the  other.  He  wrote  and  spoke  as  a  prophet, 
because  he  wrote  and  spoke  from  those  firm  convictions  which  were 
inspired  by  his  faith  in  right,  and  in  the  God  who  had  defended  the 
right  in  the  past  and  could  not  desert  it  in  the  present. 

The  writer  of  this  sketch  knew  Senator  Buckingham  from  before 
the  beginning  of  his  public  career  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  had 
frequent  opportunities  to  judge  of  him  in  almost  every  one  of  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  477 

relations  which  have  been  named.  After  abating  all  that  might  be 
required  from  the  partialities  of  personal  friendship,  he  can  honestly 
give  his  testimony  that  a  conscientious  sincerity  and  a  graceful  sym 
metry  gave  the  strength  and  beauty  to  a  character  which  other  gener 
ations  may  reasonably  hold  in  honor. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  I.  N.  Tarbox  also  published  a  "  Memoir  " 
of  Senator  Buckingham  in  the  "  Congregational  Quarterly," 
April,  1876,  in  which  he  gives  a  very  particular  account  of 
his  ancestry  and  family,  and  a  graphic  sketch  of  the 
remarkable  old  town  of  Lebanon,  the  place  of  his  birth 
and  the  home  of  the  Trumbulls. 

Of  the  Senator's  parentage,  he  says :  "  His  father  was  a 
thrifty  farmer,  a  deacon  in  the  church,  a  man  of  remark 
ably  sound  judgment  and  common  sense  and  a  public  spirited 
man,  abounding  in  hospitality.  His  mother  was  one  of 
those  women  in  whom  the  strong  qualities  of  the  Puritan 
stock  came  to  a  flowering  and  a  fruitage  of  celestial  quality — 
a  rare  union  of  strength  and  sweetness.  She  always  had  a 
mother's  ambition  for  her  children,  but  always  directed  to 
the  best  things.  '  Whatever  else  you  are,  I  want  you  to  be 
Christians,'  was  one  of  her  daily  household  sayings.  Her 
memory  is  cherished  in  the  records  of  many  words  and 
deeds  of  love  and  beneficence,  written  not  with  pen  and 
ink,  but  in  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart,  in  all  the  region 
where  she  lived.  She  came  from  the  old  town  of  Lyme, 
fruitful  in  good  influences  and  in  good  character.  The 
mother  of  Chief  Justice  Waite  of  Connecticut  and  the  grand 
mother  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  was  her 
sister,  and  in  that  town  they  were  all  born  and  educated." 

And  here  he  brings  to  view  one  member  of  the  family, 
whom  he  knew  personally,  and  was  an  important  influence 
in  that  family.  "  The  oldest  child  in  this  household  was  a 
daughter,  about  three  years  older  than  her  brother.  A 
sister  standing  in  such  relations  of  age  is  not  to  be  over 
looked  in  computing  the  influences  which  circle  about  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

inind  and  heart  of  the  growing  boy,  and  especially  in  this 
instance  these  influences  are  not  to  be  forgotten,  for  all 
witnesses  agree  (and  the  facts  are  within  the  personal 
knowledge  of  the  writer)  in  ascribing  to  Abigail  Bucking 
ham  a  saintly  beauty  of  character.  Her  thoughts,  hopes 
and  aspirations  were  not  in  the  line  of  common  earthly 
ambitions,  but  were  set  towards  choice  and  refined  culture, 
and  a  heavenly  purity  of  heart  and  disposition." 

Of  the  town  of  Lebanon  Dr.  Tarbox  gives  these  remark 
able  particulars : — 

From  this  quiet  town,  on  the  hills  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  an  influ 
ence  went  forth  through  all  the  years  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle, 
such  as  flowed  from  no  other  place,  large  or  small,  in  all  New  England. 
This  was  the  home  of  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull,  who  held  the 
office  of  governor  from  1769  to  1783,  and  then  resigned,  having  been 
for  fifty  years  in  one  form  or  another  without  interruption  in  the 
public  service.  By  the  peculiar  charter  of  Connecticut,  the  colonial 
governors  were  chosen  by  the  people,  and  not  appointed  in  England. 
And  so  Governor  Trumbull  was  on  the  side  of  the  people,  while  the 
governors  generally  in  the  other  colonies  were  appointed  abroad,  and 
at  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  strife,  acted  for  the  home  govern 
ment  and  against  the  people.  This  of  itself  tended  to  give  Governor 
Trumbull  a  peculiar  prominence  in  that  war,  and  to  make  Lebanon  a 
peculiar  place. 

And  he  quotes  Governor  Hawley  of  Connecticut,  in  his 
address  delivered  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives  at  Wash 
ington,  after  Senator  Buckingham's  death,  as  saying  of 
Governor  Trumbull :  "  Every  other  colonial  governor  went 
with  the  king.  Brother  Jonathan  stood  by  the  people,  and 
they  stood  by  him,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end — the 
square,  straight,  solid,  brave,  indomitable  old  man." 

Not  only  were  the  Trumbulls  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
but  the  three  governors,  father,  son  and  grandson,  and  that 
large  family  of  distinguished  sons  and  daughters,  and  sons- 
in-law,  as  Joseph,  Washington's  first  commissary  general ; 
Jonathan,  Jr.,  his  first  paymaster  and  private  secretary; 
David,  commissary  of  the  colony  in  the  Revolution ;  John, 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  479 

our  distinguished  historical  painter,  and  Mary,  the  wife  of 
William  Williams,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  their  characters  all  of  the  highest  type 
of  integrity,  patriotism  and  Christian  principle.  But  as 
Dr.  Tarbox  has  said  :  "  There  is  not  probably  in  all  New 
England  another  place  of  the  same  population  that  can 
point  to  so  many  eminent  graduates  of  colleges  among  her 
sons  as  Lebanon.  Some  happy,  favoring  influences  set  this 
stream  in  motion,  and  once  started  it  flowed  on,  broadening 
as  it  ran.  Some  of  the  ablest  ministers  of  New  England, 
and  some  of  her  ablest  lawyers  and  judges,  came  from 
this  town.  Among  the  earlier  ministerial  names  we  find 
such  as  these :  Dr.  John  Smalley,  Dr.  Eliphalet  Williams, 
Dr.  Elijah  Parish,  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  Dr.  Ralph  R. 
Gurley,  and  Dr.  Walter  Harris.  In  civil  life  the  result  is 
no  less  remarkable.  Jeremiah  Mason,  that  giant  among 
Boston  lawyers,  had  his  birth  and  education  here.  John 
Wheelock,  LL.D.,  the  second  president  of  Dartmouth 
college,  and  son  of  Dr.  Eleaze  Wheelock,  the  first  presi 
dent,  was  reared  at  Lebanon,  where  his  father  was  settled 
in  the  ministry.  Not  far  from  sixty  ministers  were  sent 
forth  from  this  one  township,  with  its  different  ecclesiastical 
parishes,  and  the  whole  number  of  its  graduates  cannot  fall 
short  of  one  hundred."  Dr.  Tarbox  continues  : — 

We  have  no  wish  to  exalt  Governor  Buckingham  unduly  above 
many  other  governors  in  the  Northern  States.  Not  a  few  of  them 
have  left  noble  records,  and  this  is  not  a  place  for  rude  comparisons. 
Nor  can  we  venture  even  to  enter  upon  that  war  record  in  detail.  It 
is  too  voluminous.  From  the  first  outbreak,  when  he  hurried  General 
Aiken,  afterwards  his  son-in-law,  to  Washington,  to  assure  President 
Lincoln  that  the  troops  were  coming,  through  all  those  gloomy  four 
years,  till  General  Lee's  final  surrender,  he  was  boundless  in  his  ac 
tivity.  He  seemed  a  man  as  truly  raised  up  for  the  exigency  as  did 
his  great  townsman,  Governor  Trumbull,  in  the  years  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  Is  there  anything  weak  or  superstitious  in  the  thought,  that 
the  God  who  of  old  prepared  Abraham  and  Moses  and  David,  by  a 
peculiar  early  experience  and  discipline,  for  the  great  part  they  were 


480  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

to  act  in  the  history  of  our  race,  was  just  as  distinctly  preparing  him 
in  those  early  years,  on  the  hills  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  for  the  great 
crisis  that  came  upon  this  nation  in  1860  ?  Was  it  a  mere  chance  that 
developed  his  childhood  in  such  an  atmosphere  of  patriotism,  that 
opened  his  eyes  to  look  upon  the  monuments  of  the  illustrious  dead, 
and  upon  the  faces  of  men  yet  living,  who  had  done  so  noble  a  work 
for  their  country  in  her  great  struggle  for  liberty?  We  do  not  so  un 
derstand  the  events  of  human  life.  Such  men  as  Abraham  Lincoln, 
John  A.  Andrew,  William  A.  Buckingham  and  others,  were  chosen, 
trained  and  prepared  for  that  sharp  crisis  of  the  rebellion,  as  truly  as 
Moses  was  fitted  and  appointed  to  lead  the  Children  of  Israel  out 
from  the  house  of  bondage. 

It  is  the  custom  of  Congress  when  a  member  dies,  for 
each  House  to  set  apart  a  time  for  the  commemoration  of 
his  life  and  services.  This  was  done  for  the  Senator  from 
Connecticut,  and  took  place  February  27,  a  fortnight  after 
his  burial  at  Norwich.  Such  a  service  in  so  large  a  body, 
among  those  of  different  politics  and  from  different  parts 
of  the  country,  must  take  on  more  or  less  of  dignified  cere 
mony,  and  the  utterances  of  special  friends.  But  as  has 
been  said  of  this :  "  Some  great  men  have  died  out  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  within  the  past  few  years,  and 
fitting  tributes  have  been  paid  them,  but  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  any  one  has  drawn  more  upon  the  fountains  of 
tenderness  than  he.  In  the  speeches,  both  in  the  Senate 
and  in  the  House,  there  is  a  remarkable  absence  of  what 
may  be  called  formal  and  conventional.  They  are  such 
words  as  mourners  speak  when  the  eye  is  moist  and  the 
heart  full." 

The  first  of  these  tributes  paid  to  the  deceased  Senator 
was  by  Senator  Ferry,  his  associate  from  Connecticut,  and 
was  in  part  as  follows  : — 

MB.  PRESIDENT:— When  the  telegraph  announced  that  Mr.  Bucking 
ham  was  no  more,  we  paused  in  the  work  of  legislation  to  do  honor  to 
his  memory.  When,  a  few  days  later,  the  hour  arrived  for  the  great 
assemblage  which  had  gathered  to  his  funeral  at  his  distant  home,  to 
go  forth  bearing  his  body  to  its  last  resting  place,  we  stopped,  as  it 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  481 

were,  for  the  long  procession  to  pass  by  and  do  its  solemn  office  and 
disperse,  and  now  we  pause  once  more  to  utter  in  the  hearing  of  the 
nation  such  words  of  commemoration  as  seem  to  us  befitting  the 
regard  in  which  we  held  our  associate  and  friend. 

After  referring  to  his  Puritan  ancestry,  and  describing 
the  New  England  family  into  which  he  was  born,  he  briefly 
sketched  that  birthplace  with  its  peculiar  aspects,  associations 
and  influences,  as  if  no  other  could  have  been  its  equal : — 

There  is  no  spot  in  the  world  where  the  conditions  which  mold  a 
human  life,  are  more  auspicious  than  those  which  existed  in  his 
native  town  from  fifty  to  seventy  years  ago.  Its  natural  aspects  were 
simple  and  peaceful.  Its  one  long,  spacious  street,  with  wide,  grassy 
borders,  between  which  lay  the  beaten  road,  here  and  there  over 
shadowed  by  ancient  trees;  the  slopes  of  arable  and  pasture  and 
meadow  land,  broken  by  primitive  woods  at  varying  intervals;  the 
scattered  farmhouses  with  their  outbuildings,  the  rain  and  sun-im- 
browned  meeting-house,  schoolhouse  and  academy,  are  all  familiar 
features  of  the  New  England  village  of  that  day,  and  in  harmony  with 
the  life  of  the  people  who  beheld  them ;  a  plain,  earnest,  thoughtful 
people,  who  believed  in  God  and  duty ;  industrious,  because  they 
earned  their  bread  by  their  daily  toil;  independent,  because  each  man 
owned  the  acres  which  he  tilled;  intelligent,  because  the  school- 
house  opened  wide  its  doors  to  all;  brave,  because  fearing  God  they 
feared  nothing  else;  pure,  because  without  a  shadow  on  their  belief 
in  their  Scripture  revelation  they  lived  habitually  in  as  vivid  a  con 
sciousness  of  the  invisible  as  of  the  visible  world  around  them.  We 
can  hardly  realize  the  intensity  of  that  faith  in  the  present  age.  It 
had  perhaps  too  much  of  a  somber  tinge,  but  it  pervaded  life  with  the 
impregnable  sense  of  duty,  and  robbed  death  of  its  terrors  by  the 
assurance  of  a  noble  life  beyond.  The  air  of  the  place  was,  moreover, 
full  of  patriotic  associations.  It  was  the  home  of  many  prominent 
characters  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  Chief  among  these  was  the 
family  of  the  Trumbull.  The  plain  frame  house  in  which  they  had 
lived  during  two  generations  of  distinguished  service,  and  the  "  Old 
War  Office,"  as  it  was  called,  where  the  elder  Trumbull  had  trans 
acted  his  public  business  during  his  long  administration  of  State 
affairs,  remained  landmarks  of  the  past,  as  they  still  do.  School 
boys  entering  the  latter  looked  with  awe  upon  the  marks  of  the  spurs, 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  side  of  the  counter,  where  orderlies  and  ex 
press  riders  sat  awaiting  the  Governor's  orders  during  the  War  of 
Independence.  In  that  house  Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Lafay 
ette,  Rochambeau,  and  many  other  old-time  worthies  had  been 


482  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

guests.  French  troops  had  gone  into  winter  quarters  here,  and  five 
regiments  had  been  reviewed  by  Washington  himself  on  the  spacious 
street.  More  than  500  men  from  that  little  town  had  been  in  the 
Revolutionary  armies  at  one  time,  and  every  house  was  full  of  their 
reminiscences.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  such  associations  that  the  boy 
Buckingham  grew  up  from  infancy  to  early  manhood.  The  impress 
ion  which  they  made  may,  I  think,  be  traced  through  all  his  subse 
quent  life.* 

As  Governor,  Senator  Buckingham  had  been  in  office  two  years 
when  the  Rebellion  broke  out.  The  election  of  President  Lincoln  had 
turned  upon  the  question  whether  slavery  was  to  be  restrained  and 
kept  within  its  constitutional  limits,  to  be  eventually  consumed,  and 
when  that  election  had  gone  against  the  South,  Secession  came. 

To  Governor  Buckingham.  Secession  was  rebellion,  and  an  ordnance 
of  Secession  was  a  declaration  of  war.  It  did  not  require  the  echo  of 
artillery  from  Fort  Sumter  to  awaken  him  to  the  duties  of  the  hour. 
In  the  winter  of  1860  and  1861,  he  began  with  such  means  as  the  dis 
jointed  militia  laws  of  Connecticut  placed  in  his  hands  to  prepare 
for  the  conflict.  Upon  the  first  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  troops 
at  the  fall  of  Sumter,  he  devoted  himself,  mind  and  body  and  estate, 
to  bring  that  conflict  to  a  successful  issue.  Thenceforth  till  the 
final  overthrow  of  the  Rebellion,  his  history  is  a  prominent  part  of  the 
history  of  the  nation.  The  Legislature  was  to  assemble  in  a  few 
weeks,  but  it  was  impossible  to  await  its  meeting.  The  laws  of  the 
State  were  utterly  inadequate  to  the  emergency,  and  responsibility 


*  Among  the  other  patriotic  associations  and  influences  of  the  place,  the  Trum- 
bull  tomb  in  the  old  burying  ground  might  well  be  added  to  the  "  War  Office."  As 
has  been  said  of  it :  "  Within  this  mausoleum  rest  the  sacred  ashes  of  more  of  the 
illustrious  dead  than  in  any  other  in  the  State,  or  perhaps  in  the  country.  Here 
rest  the  remains  of  that  eminently  great  and  good  Jonathan  Trumbull,  ST.,  the 
bosom  friend  and  most  trusted  counselor  of  Washington  ;  of  his  good  wife,  Faith 
Robinson  ;  of  his  oldest  son,  Joseph,  the  first  commissary  general  of  the  army 
under  Washington ;  his  second  son,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  paymaster  general  of  the  same 
army,  private  secretary  and  first  aid-de-camp  to  General  Washington,  and  after 
wards  Speaker  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives,  member  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  Governor  of  the  State,  and  by  his  side  his  good  wife, 
Eunice  Backus :  of  his  third  son,  David,  commissary  of  this  colony  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  and  assistant  commissary  general  under  his  brother  in  the  army  of  Washing 
ton,  and  by  his  side  his  good  wife,  Sarah  Backus  ;  of  his  second  daughter,  Mary, 
and  by  her  side  her  illustrious  husband,  William  Williams,  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  many  others  who  from  these 
descended.  What  a  tomb  is  here  !  What  a  shrine  for  patriotic  devotion  !  "—[Rev. 
Mr.  Bine's  "  Early  Lebanon." 

One  has  said  who  was  a  boy  with  Governor  Buckingham :  "As  I  have  stood 
before  that  tomb  with  him,  I  can  think  of  nothing  so  likely  to  have  inspired  him 
with  his  patriotism  as  this.  Sure  I  am,  that  next  to  his  duty  to  God,  no  stronger 
motive  influenced  him  than  the  desire  to  be  to  the  State  and  country  somewhat 
such  as  Trumbull  was  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  483 

must  be  assured.  The  treasury  was  empty  and  money  could  not  be 
raised  for  months  by  the  regular  methods,  hut  money  must  be  raised. 
The  Governor  anticipated  the  enactment  of  laws,  assumed  responsi 
bility,  and  pledged  his  private  credit  in  the  purchase  of  supplies  and 
munitions  of  war  for  the  troops,  which  from  all  parts  of  the  State 
were  filling  up  the  rolls  of  the  volunteers.  When  the  Legislature 
assembled,  it  passed  acts  of  indemnity  and  literally  placed  the  whole 
resources  of  the  State  at  his  disposal.  And  thus  it  continued  sub 
stantially  during  the  entire  war.  Never  was  a  trust  more  faithfully 
executed.  As  call  after  call  for  troops  proceeded  from  Washington, 
the  Governor  was  indefatigable  in  securing  the  promptest  response. 
As  regiment  after  regiment  went  forth  to  the  front,  he  devoted  his 
time,  his  energies,  and  often  his  personal  resources,  to  the  complete 
ness  of  their  equipment  and  the  promotion  of  their  comfort.  His 
care  of  them  was  as  tender  as  that  of  a  father. 

One  or  two  incidents  which  I  know  to  be  authentic  will  illustrate 
this  tenderness  of  the  Governor  for  his  troops.  A  citizen  of  Con 
necticut,  whose  duties  kept  him  almost  constantly  at  the  front,  hap 
pened  to  meet  Governor  Buckingham  at  Washington,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  conversation  the  latter  said  to  him :  "  You  will  see  a  great 
many  battles  and  much  suffering.  Don't  let  any  Connecticut  man 
suffer  for  want  of  anything  that  can  be  done  for  him.  If  it  costs 
money,  draw  on  me  for  it."  The  same  person,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
fight  at  Gettysburg,  when  victory  had  declared  on  the  Federal  side, 
while  yet  the  fields  were  strewn  with  the  dead  and  wounded,  seized 
an  opportunity  to  telegraph  the  Governor  the  great  result,  and  quick 
as  the  wires  could  bear  it  came  back  the  response:  "  Take  good  care 
of  the  Connecticut  men." 

In  this  connection,  Senator  Ferry  brings  out  the  other 
side  of  the  Governor's  character,  which,  tender-hearted  as 
he  was,  showed  convictions  and  principles  in  regard  to  the 
support  of  government  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
at  any  cost,  and  made  him  urge  on  the  contest  to  victory,  as 
follows : — 

"  The  conflict  inaugurated  at  Sumter  must  go  on  until  the  govern 
ment  shall  conquer  or  be  conquered.  Let  no  one  be  deceived  by  the 
artful  device  of  securing  peace  by  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  A  peace 
thus  attained  would  cost  a  nation's  birthright.  Civil  war  is  cruelty. 
Its  fruits  are  desolation,  sorrow  and  death.  Fear,  hesitation,  and  a 
timid  use  of  the  forces  of  war,  will  eventually  increase  these  terrible 
sufferings.  They  will  be  diminished  by  courage,  vigor,  and  severity. 
Whatever  of  trial,  suffering  or  privation  may  be  in  store  for  us,  or 


484  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

however  long  may  be  this  controversy,  firm  in  the  faith  that  our 
nation  will  be  preserved  in  its  integrity,  let  us  in  adversity  as  well  as 
in  prosperity,  in  darkness  as  well  as  in  light,  give  the  administration 
our  counsel,  our  confidence,  our  support." 

The  exigencies  of  the  war  frequently  brought  Governor  Bucking 
ham  to  Washington  during  its  whole  continuance.  Here  he  speedily 
won  the  respect  of  all  by  his  capacity,  firmness,  and  devotion  to  the 
common  cause.  He  was  especially  endeared  to  President  Lincoln, 
who  reposed  in  him  the  same  confidence  which  Washington  had 
bestowed  upon  his  great  predecessor,  Jonathan  Trumbull.  As  a 
gentleman  entering  the  executive  office,  introduced  himself  from 
Connecticut,  the  President  rose  from  his  chair,  and  placing  ins  hand 
impressively  upon  the  visitor's  shoulder,  exclaimed:  "From  Con 
necticut?  Do  you  know  what  a  good  governor  you  have  got?" 

Kindly  and  gentle  as  we  have  seen  him  in  these  recent  years,  it  is 
impossible  not  to  feel  that  in  his  veins  flowed  the  blood  of  the  grim 
Ironsides  who  fought  at  Naseby  and  at  Marston  Moor,  and  that  in  his 
breast  dwelt  the  spirit  which  animated  the  Hebrew  king  who,  con 
templating  the  inextinguishable  hostility  of  the  enemies  of  his  people 
and  of  the  glorious  hopes  bound  up  in  their  national  existence,  ex 
claimed:  "Blessed  be  the  Lord  my  strength,  which  teacheth  my 
hands  to  war  and  my  fingers  to  fight." 

Senator  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  said  : — 

MB.  PRESIDENT:— The  warm  friendship  Ihavefor  years  entertained 
for  Governor  Buckingham  and  my  high  estimate  of  his  character 
forbid  that  I  suffer  this  occasion  to  pass  away  without,  as  briefly  as 
I  may,  paying  to  his  memory  a  parting  tribute.  When  the  sad  tidings 
of  the  death  of  our  friend  passed  over  the  wires,  thousands  and  thou 
sands  of  the  best  people  of  the  country  were  saddened.  Those  who, 
while  we  are  making  laws  to  impose  on  society  external  restraints, 
are  noiselessly  and  unobtrusively  at  work  in  imposing  on  society  the 
more  potent  and  more  salutary  internal  restraints  of  a  pure 
religion,  feel  that  in  his  death  they  have  lost  an  efficient  coworker, 
a  wise  counselor,  and  a  bright  exemplar.  His  was  a  bright  example, 
and  as  he  had  no  moral  obliquities  to  hide,  he  had  no  temp 
tation  to  resort  to  pretension,  and  to  become  a  prude  in  virtue.  The 
faith  he  professed  received  from  him  no  prejudice  and  no  damage. 
His  life  was  the  expression  of  "  an  honest,  earnest,  loving  heart, 
taking  counsel  of  its  God,  and  of  itself." 

In  his  death  the  nation  and  society  have  sustained  a  loss  not 
readily  repaired.  That  combination  of  integrity  and  efficiency,  of 
prudence  and  courage,  of  kindness  and  firmness,  of  patriotism  and 
Christian  virtue,  which  formed  his  character,  is  not  often  found.  As 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  485 

a  man  of  extensive  business  connections,  his  opinions  on  affairs  were 
sought  after  and  respected,  and  his  punctuality  in  the  performance  of 
any  obligation  was  an  example  As  the  War  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
he  contributed  much  to  the  preservation,  and  shed  a  luster  on  the  his 
tory,  of  his  native  State.  As  our  companion  here,  his  wisdom  and 
judgment  commanded  our  respect,  his  virtue  won  our  esteem,  and 
his  generous  confidence  secured  our  affection. 

Senator  Stevenson  of  Kentucky  said  : — 

My  acquaintance  with  Governor  Buckingham  commenced  upon  my 
entrance  into  the  Senate  in  1871.  A  joint  service  with  him  upon  the 
Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  brought  us  closely  together,  and  I  soon 
learned  to  honor  and  respect  him.  I  shall  not  speak  of  his  public  ser 
vice  in  the  Senate;  it  was  known  to  us  all;  it  was  appreciated  by  all. 

Governor  Buckingham  was  a  man  of  decided  character.  Without 
brilliancy,  he  possessed  a  strong,  clear  judgment,  was  a  man  of 
decided  opinions  and  strong  convictions  from  which  he  never  swerved. 
He  was  eminently  industrious  and  attentive  to  his  official  duties,  but 
always  gentle  and  courteous  in  the  discharge  of  them.  But  his 
example,  Mr.  President,  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  world,  possessed  a 
higher  value.  Earthly  distinction  is  of  "  the  earth,  earthy;"  it  attracts 
and  dazzles  for  a  brief  period  and  then  passes  away  and  perisheth; 
but  a  conscience  void  of  offense  before  God  and  man  is  an  inheritance 
for  eternity.  And  such,  I  believe,  was  the  possession  of  the  late 
William  A.  Buckingham.  His  religious  convictions  were  of  the 
highest  and  deepest  type.  No  irreverence,  no  frivolity,  no  loud  pro 
fessions  of  his  faith  ever  escaped  his  lips.  He  believed  that  pure 
religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  was  to  visit  the 
fatherless  and  widows  in  their  afflictions,  and  to  keep  himself  un 
spotted  from  the  world.  This  he  illustrated  in  his  daily  life;  this  he 
rejoiced  in  in  his  calm  and  quiet  life.  He  lived  in  hope;  he  died  in 
triumph. 

Senator  Wright  of  Iowa  also  said  :— 

I  met  Governor  Buckingham  for  the  first  time  when  taking  my  seat 
in  this  chamber,  nearly  four  years  since.  I  was  then,  as  always  after 
wards,  impressed,  as  I  know  all  were,  with  his  amiable  disposition, 
sterling  worth,  his  devotion  to  right  and  duty,  his  unobtrusive  man 
ner,  his  ever  earnest  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the  weak  and  oppressed, 
his  Christian  faith,  and  what  was  far  more,  his  Christian  life.  I  but 
repeat  what  has  been  said  by  others  when  I  say  that  his  work  was 
not  so  much  in  mere  appearance  or  show,  as  in  its  quiet  and  practical 
value  to  the  Senate  and  the  country.  Participating  in  our  debates 


486  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

but  seldom,  he,  nevertheless,  in  those  matters  requiring  patient  in 
dustry,  tireless  research,  watchfulness,  the  care  of  the  conscientious 
business  man,  yea,  of  pure  purpose  and  clear  brain  and  judgment, 
was  ever  at  home,  had  but  few  equals,  was  the  peer  of  any.  And 
hence,  as  my  acquaintance  ripened  into  warm  friendship,  and  I  came 
to  know  more  and  more  of  his  purity  of  purpose  and  the  thorough 
ness  of  his  investigations,  if  in  doubt  as  to  my  course,  I  simply 
asked  what  has  he  said  or  advised,  what  was  his  vote,  and  followed 
his  lead.  I  knew  his  path  could  not  and  would  not  probably  lead  me 
from  the  right,  and  could  not  be  otherwise  than  that  of  safety.  His 
was  always  "  a  straight  road,"  and  a  traveler  in  this  never  gets  lost. 

These  tributes  of  highest  respect  and  personal  esteem, 
come,  it  should  be  noticed,  not  only  from  men  of  his  own 
political  party,  but  from  those  with  very  different  politics, 
and  when  such  relations  were  terribly  strained.  Here 
is  Senator  Bayard  of  Delaware,  afterwards  President 
Cleveland's  Secretary  of  State,  and  now  our  minister  to  the 
Court  of  St.  James,  who  frankly  avowing  his  differences, 
yet  pays  the  Connecticut  Senator  as  high  and  hearty  trib 
utes  of  respect  as  any  other.  Senator  Bayard  says  : — 

I  entered  this  body  on  the  same  day  as  our  late  friend  and  brother, 
having  never  previously  had  personal  acquaintance  with  him,  and 
although  the  committees  upon  which  we  were  allotted  service  by  the 
Senate  were  different,  yet  relations  of  a  kindly  nature  soon  grew  up 
between  us,  arising  from  the  contact  of  general  business  in  the 
chamber.  I  was  greatly  won  by  the  considerate  courtesy  which  so 
eminently  marked  his  bearing,  and  our  acquaintance  grew  closely 
with  the  lapse  of  time,  until  a  sentiment  of  what  I  am  glad  to  believe 
was  one  of  mutual  regard,  established  itself  between  us.  Our  affili 
ations  in  party  politics  were  totally  diverse,  and  upon  such  questions 
the  sense  of  duty  entertained  by  each  led  our  voices  and  our  votes 
usually  in  opposite  directions.  Our  habits  of  life,  the  schools  of 
thought  and  action  in  which  we  had  been  reared,  had  always  been  of 
a  different  character,  leading  us  into  the  adoption  of  different  theories 
of  social  and  political  government.  But  the  calmness,  the  serenity, 
the  cheerful,  steady,  and  open  advocacy  of  his  conscientious  views, 
never  suggested  condemnation  or  disrespect  of  those  who  opposed 
him.  I  well  remember  on  one  occasion,  when  I  had  combated  in 
debate  some  opinion  he  evidently  cherished,  that  fearing  he  might 
have  considered  himself  included  in  my  adverse  criticisms,  1  said  to 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

him  privately:     "  I  trust  you  will  let  me  agree  with  you,  and  yet 
denounce  your  opinions."     And  with  a  smile  of  graciousness  whicl 
any  one  who  knew  him  must  remember,  he  placed  his  arm  around  my 
shoulder  and  said:     "My  dear  friend,  we  both  mean  what  is  right; 
and  must  not  condemn  each  other  because  we  differ  in  our  ways 
attaining  it." 

Referring  to  that  perplexing  and  disagreeable  Custom- 
house  Investigation  in  New  York,  he  says  :— 

In  the  winter  of  1871  and  1872,  Mr.  Buckingham  was  chairman  of  a 
committee  of  investigation  of  which  I  was  a  member,  which  sat  i 
New   York    for    nearly  two   months.     Its  sessions  were    long    and 
laborious,  by  night  and  by  day,  involving  much  that  was  calculated 
to  arouse  contest  between   the  members.     And  I  would  here  bear 
witness  to  the  unfailing  industry,  the  unflagging  attention   t 
bestowed  upon  the  public  duty,  by  this  then  aged  and  venerable  man, 
whose  gentle  courtesy  and  good  temper  never  failed  upon  any  occar 
sion     The  long  life  of  our  friend  had  been,  as  we  have  just 
one  of  steady  industry  and  solid,  unvarying  integrity,  and  the  reward 
of  wealth,  and  the  higher  reward  of  public  and  private  regard  and 
respect  were  his.    The  people  of  his  native  State  have  attested  i 
many  ways  and  repeatedly  their  high  opinion  of  his  intelligence  and 
worth,  and  placed  him  for  many  successive  terms  in  the  chair  of 
chief  magistracy,  and  sent  him  into  this  council  chamber  as  one  t 
their  representatives.    Full  of  years  and  honors,  they  now  mourn 

for  him. 

Let  his  virtues  be   written  upon   marble,   and   remember 
imitated  by  those  of  us  who  survive  him.     Let  such  faults  and  imper 
fections  as  are  ever  attendant  upon  humanity  pass  from  our  minds, 
and  find   that  mercy  and    forgiveness  for  what  he  earnestly  and 
humbly  sought,  and  of  what  we  all  stand  so  much  in  need.     Senator; 
our  hearts  meet  now  over  this  new  grave  of  a  departed  brother, 
not  this  communion  of  sorrow  keep  us  less  far  apart  in  the  perform 
ance  of  our  daily  duties,  upon  which  we  are  in  a  few  hours  again 
to  embark? 

Senator  Baton,  of  Connecticut,  just  appointed  by  the  Gov 
ernor  to  succeed  Senator  Buckingham,  and  the  representa 
tive  of  the  opposite  political  party  in  the  State,  pays  him 
this  magnanimous  tribute  of  respect  and  esteem  :— 

Governor  Buckingham  came  into  public  life  and  shortly  after  enter 
ing  upon  it  there  arose  grave  and  great  questions  upon  which  n 
antagonized.    Though  many  years  younger  than  he,  1  had  been  sc 


488 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


what  m  public  life.  My  political  convictions  differed  from  the  con 
victions  of  our  deceased  friend.  I  am  glad  to  say  here,  that  however 
much  they  differed,  though  we  were  not  intimate,  yet  our  personal 
relations  were  always  friendly.  And,  sir,  I  will  say  here,  and  1  ask 
for  no  higher  eulogium  upon  myself  either  from  political  foe  or  per 
sonal  friend,  that  whatever  William  A.  Buckingham  did  in  the  line  of 
his  duty,  he  did  it  in  all  heart  and  in  all  honesty.  If  there  were  dif- 
rences  of  opinion  between  him  and  some  of  his  fellow-citizens 
ie  differences  to-day  are  cast  into  the  great  lumber-room  of  the 
past  and  are  forgotten.  He  was  a  gentleman,  a  kindly  gentleman,  and 
blessed  with  large  wealth,  he  showered  it  upon  the  needy.  True  to 
his  friends,  true  to  his  convictions,  true  to  those  great  principles 
which  should  govern  us  all,  he  went  down  to  the  grave  an  honest 
man.  Noble  heart,  farewell!  Pure,  gentle  spirit,  fare  thee  well! 
"  The  earth  which  bears  thee  dead  bears  not  alive  a  truer  gentleman.'' 

But  the  tributes  of  some  of  the  older  Senators,  and  such 
as  had  had  more  experience  in  Congressional  statesman 
ship,  and  especially  had  shared  with  him  the  anxieties  of 
the  war,  come  back  to  us  full  of  meaning,  and  rich  in  affec 
tion.  Senator  Pratt  of  Indiana  says  : 

I  met  him  first  in  this  chamber  nearly  six  years  ago,  and  while 
many  of  his  associates  may  lay  claim  to  a  greater  intimacy  than  I 
enjoyed,  no  one,  I  feel  sure,  more  sincerely  mourns  his  loss  With 
perfect  truth  I  can  say,  that  in  all  the  acquaintances  I  have  formed 
with  public  men  since  coming  to  this  Capitol,  no  one  has  impressed 
me  more  strongly  as  being  thoroughly  conscientious  and  honest  in 
his  public  and  private  life  than  Mr.  Buckingham. 

He  was  a  statesman  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  What  makes  a 
statesman?  Ifc>t  knowledge  alone,  however  wide,  deep,  varied  and 
all-comprehensive;  not  mere  quickness  of  apprehension  to  detect  the 
latent  fallacy  in  argument  or  proposition;  not  large  experience  with 
men  and  subjects  in  the  legislative  forum,  nor  familiarity  with  par 
liamentary  rules;  it  does  not  consist  alone  in  great  powers  of  debate. 
All  these  may  co-exist,  and  yet  something  be  wanting  to  complete  our 
beau  ideal  of  the  statesman.  What  is  the  lack?  What  is  still  want- 
I  reply,  perfect  integrity,  broad  philanthropy,  and  an  ardent 
patriotism,  which,  discarding  selfish  aims  and  local  benefits,  seek  to 
elevate  the  whole  people,  to  make  them  wiser  and  better,  and  to 
promote  their  material  welfare. 

To  this  highest  type  of  statesmanship  he  belonged,  whose  memory 
we  honor  to-day.  He  was  not  a  great  orator,  upon  whose  utterances 
men  hung  with  bated  breath.  He  did  not  mingle  frequently  in 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  489 

debate.  He  did  not  aspire  to  the  honor  of  leadership,  nor  was  his 
education  as  comprehensive  as  that  of  many.  He  made  no  pretense 
to  superior  culture.  But  he  possessed  the  practical  knowledge  of  the 
affairs  of  the  country,  its  varied  industries  and  wants,  its  internal 
commerce,  its  growing  manufactories,  its  vast  agricultural  and 
mineral  resources,  and  especially  that  knowledge  of  our  relations 
with  the  various  Indian  tribes,  to  which  subject  he  gave  so  much  of 
his  attention  as  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  as 
to  eminently  qualify  him  to  be  a  judicious  adviser  in  this  body  and 
to  frame  appropriate  laws  upon  these  subjects.  Without  making  any 
pretense  to  the  graces  of  oratory,  he  possessed  the  faculty  of  setting 
forth  his  views  in  away  all  could  understand.  With  this  was  coupled 
that  sincerity  of  manner  that  made  all  men  respect  if  they  could  not 
adopt  his  views. 

And  while  dwelling  upon  his  course  in  this  chamber,  let  me  allude 
to  another  matter.  Debates  sometimes  engender  heat  and  hasty 
speech.  But  who  can  forget  his  unvarying  courtesy?  Who  ever  saw 
him  forget  for  a  single  moment  the  propriety  of  debate?  Who  ever 
heard  fall  from  his  lips  a  word  calculated  to  offend  or  wound?  Who 
ever  saw  his  brow  cloud  with  anger,  or  his  face  flush  with  sudden 
passion?  Who  ever  suspected  him  of  equivocation  or  double  dealing? 
No,  sir;  he  was  the  soul  of  truth,  the  embodiment  of  honor.  In  him 
centered  the  virtues  which  make  up  the  Christian  gentleman.  * 

In  a  similar  strain,  Senator  Thurman  of  Ohio  pays  his 
tribute  to  his  deceased  associate  :— 

MB.  PRESIDENT: — I  can  do  no  more  than  express  my  high  apprecia 
tion  of  the  character  of  the  deceased  as  it  was  manifested  during  the 

*  The  Senator  is  often  referred  to  as  a  "gentleman,1'  a  "  Christian  gentleman." 
and  the  following  incident  will  illustrate  what  kind  of  a  gentleman  he  was,  in 
spirit  as  well  as  in  manner :  "  It  is  told  of  the  late  Governor  Buckingham,  that 
during  an  important  official  consultation  in  regard  to  the  war,  an  old  and  feeble 
woman  dressed  in  simple  mourning,  was  ushered  into  the  room,  and  told  her  story 
to  the  sympathetic  Governor.  She  was  a  widow,  and  her  only  son,  who  had  gone 
as  a  private  in  the  Fourteenth  Connecticut  regiment,  had  been  killed  in  a  recent 
action,  leaving  her  alone  with  her  grandson.  She  drew  out  a  roll  of  bills  from  a 
a  much-worn  pocketbook  and  asked  the  Governor  to  take  from  it  the  value  of  her 
son's  rifle  and  give  her  an  order  for  it  on  his  captain.  'John  didn't  have  much  to 
leave  his  boy  besides  a  good  name  and  a  patriotic  example,'  said  the  old  lady, 
'but  I  want  to  get  that  rifle  so  that  the  boy  can  be  reminded  of  his  father  while  he 
is  growing  up.'  The  Governor  was  deeply  affected.  He  refused  the  money  and 
told  her  he  should  have  her  son's  rifle  if  he  had  to  go  in  person  to  the  regiment  to 
get  it.  After  taking  the  necessary  directions  from  her,  he  gave  her  his  arm  as  she 
rose  up  to  go,  assisted  her  off  the  steps,  and  then  with  a  courtly  bow  bade  her  good 
bye,  and  returned  to  his  office.  'Gentlemen,'  said  he,  'what  are  our  labors  and 
sacrifices  compared  to  hers?  The  daily  evidence  I  receive  of  the  heroism  of  our 
Connecticut  women,  inspires  me  with  confidence  as  nothing  else  could  do.' " 


490  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

years  he  sat  among  us.  My  acquaintance  with  him  began  when  he 
entered  the  Senate,  and  the  friendly  relations  that  soon  followed  were 
never  marred  by  any  difference  of  opinion,  however  great.  I  always 
found  him  polite,  amiable,  and  ready  to  oblige;  a  noble  specimen  of 
a  true  gentleman.  I  always  found  him  an  industrious  and  careful 
legislator,  distinguished  by  an  excellent  judgment  and  naturally  in 
clined,  I  believe,  to  moderation.  Earnest  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties,  he  was  never  obtrusive,  never  presumptuous,  and  never  said  a 
word  calculated  to  inflict  a  wound.  And  hence,  when  he  last  walked 
from  this  chamber,  he  left  no  one  within  its  walls  who  did  not  feel 
for  him  respect,  kindness  and  esteem.  A  Senator  of  whom  after 
years  of  service  this  can  be  truly  said  needs  little  more  of  eulogy. 
There  is  so  much  to  create  passion,  prejudice,  or  ill-will  in  the  con 
tests  imposed  upon  us  by  a  discharge  of  our  duties,  that  he  who 
finishes  his  senatorial  career  with  the  universal  good  will  and  respect 
of  his  brethren,  is  most  surely  a  character  that  merits  commemoration 
and  honor. 

Senator  Howe's  delicate  perception  of  some  elements  of 
Senator  Buckingham's  character,  and  his  felicitous  and 
heart-felt  representations  of  them,  make  his  tribute  one  of 
the  gems  of  this  kind  of  literature  :— 

MR.  PRESIDENT  : — I  put  on  no  sable,  none  of  the  trappings  of  woe, 
to  stand  by  the  bier  of  Buckingham.  I  recall  no  single  trait  in  his 
character,  no  incident  in  his  career,  to  bow  me  with  a  sense  of  hu 
miliation.  On  the  contrary,  the  memory  of  all  the  years  I  knew  him 
fills  me  with  exultation.  And  then,  sir,  I  remember  with  grateful 
pride  that  he  was  an  American  Senator. 

I  need  not  remind  you  how  in  these  latter  years  calumny  has 
emptied  all  its  vials  upon  the  heads  of  public  men  and  upon  the 
endeavors  of  public  life.  It  has  really  seemed  at  times  as  if  the 
fountains  of  falsehood's  great  deeps  were  broken  up,  and  that  so 
ciety,  which  can  no  more  be  overwhelmed  by  floods,  was  to  be 
drowned  by  detraction.  A  friend  told  me  that  when  traveling  along 
a  railway  in  New  England  two  years  ago,  she  heard  a  fellow-traveler 
declare,  with  emphasis,  his  settled  belief  that  there  was  not  an  honest 
man  in  either  House  of  Congress.  But  Buckingham  was  then  there. 

One  incident  in  his  life  I  will  venture  to  recall,  which  not  inaptly 
illustrates  his  enduring  excellence.  By  command  of  the  Senate,  I 
was  with  others  assigned  but  three  years  ago  to  aid  the  deceased  on 
the  investigation  of  alleged  abuses  in  the  customs  service  in  New 
York.  It  was  an  irksome  task,  yet  we  prosecuted  it  for  weeks. 
Daily  we  were  splashed  with  the  foul  humors  engendered  in  the 
glandered  politics  of  a  great  city.  Malice  unwound  a  hideous  web 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  491 

before  us,  shot  with  a  thread  of  fact  to  a  shuttleful  of  falsehood. 
During  the  whole  trial  I  did  not  once  hear  a  censorius  remark  from 
him,  or  even  a  petulant  exclamation.  It  was  evident  he  was  human, 
and  that  he  felt.  Occasionally,  when  the  manifestations  were 
especially  spiteful,  his  countenance  would  wear  that  mingled  ex 
pression  of  pain  and  resignation  which  art  has  so  long  and  so  vainly 
toiled  to  reproduce  in  some  Ecce  Homo;  that  look,  half  willing  and 
half  shrinking,  which  one  fancies  the  shuddering  Saviour  wore  as  there 
broke  from  his  lips  the  supplication:  "If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me.  Nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  But 
the  poultice  of  a  night  relieved  the  suffering  and  each  succeeding  day 
restored  him  to  his  work,  showing  no  more  trace  of  scars  from  the 
inflictions  of  the  yesterdays,  than  the  sun  bore  which  lighted  him 
to  his  work. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  long  felt  to  regret  that  I  never  heard  Jenny 
Lind  sing,  that  I  never  saw  Rachel  act.  They  must  have  been  marvel 
ous  specimens  of  art.  Governor  Buckingham  was  a  grand  piece  of 
nature.  I  shall  always  regret  that  I  could  not  have  known  him  in 
domestic  life.  I  am  persuaded  that  was  his  masterpiece.  I  never 
saw  him  in  the  presence  of  a  child.  But  I  partly  know  what  he  was 
as  a  father.  Once  he  spoke  to  me  of  a  daughter,  and  no  June  morn 
ing  ever  suffused  the  eastern  sky  with  a  more  genial  radiance  than 
that  which  broke  over  the  face  of  the  father,  as  he  told  me  how  good 
that  daughter  was. 

Sir,  I  should  wrong  the  memory  of  Governor  Buckingham  and  grieve 
his  truthful  spirit — only  his  spirit  is  beyond  the  reach  of  grief— if  I 
should  neglect  to  bear  testimony  to  one  thing.  There  is  in  this 
unbelieving  generation  a  loud,  if  not  a  large  element,  desperate,  if  not 
devilish,  hoping  nothing  here  and  fearing  nothing  hereafter,  which 
screams  with  derision  of  the  Christian  statesman.  Standing  by  the 
grave  of  Governor  Buckingham,  I  must  not  forget  to  tell  the  world 
that  he  was,  what  I  have  never  dared  pretend  to  be,  a  Christian 
statesman.* 


*  While  we  are  giving  the  estimates  of  these  Congressmen  of  one  of  their  number, 
it  may  be  of  interest  to  know  his  estimate  of  his  associates,  certainly  if  he  had 
anything  like  the  good  judgment  and  fairness  attributed  to  him.  It  is  well  known 
to  his  friends,  that  he  regarded  public  men  in  that  position,  as  greatly  misunder 
stood,  misrepresented,  and  suspected  of  what  does  not  belong  to  them  as  a  class, 
however  criminal  individuals  may  be.  He  spoke  more  particularly  of  the  Senate, 
as  the  body  with  which  he  was  best  acquainted,  and  testified  to  their  high  honor 
and  scrupulousness  in  regard  to  legislation  affecting  their  personal  interests,  and 
sensitiveness  to  the  very  suspicion  of  it.  As  he  once  said  to  the  writer  when  visit 
ing  him  in  Washington  and  inquiring  after  his  health:  "  Oh  !  I  am  well  enough,  but 
you  know  that  when  a  man  comes  to  Congress,  and  makes  any  money  while  he  is 
here,  he  has  had  his  hands  in  the  public  treasury.  And  if  he  has  lost  any,  he  has 
fallen  into  bad  habits.  This  last  is  the  case  with  me!1' 


492  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Senator  Morton  of  Indiana  was  an  old  friend  of  Senator 
Buckingham.  They  had  both  been  governors  all  through 
the  war,  in  frequent  correspondence  in  respect  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued,  and  in  perfect  sympathy  as  to  the 
necessity  of  carrying  on  the  war  to  the  bitter  end,  in  spite 
of  all  peace  measures  and  compromises.  In  one  respect 
they  greatly  differed  in  their  lot.  Governor  Buckingham 
always  had  his  State  at  his  back,  while  Governor  Morton 
had  to  struggle  with  a  Democratic  Legislature,  and  the 
popular  majority  was  against  him  in  supporting  the  national 
administration  by  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Yet  he  raised 
a  great  number  of  troops,  and  carried  the  State  successfully 
through  the  war  in  the  support  of  the  government.  A 
grand  old  man  he  was,  and  though  an  invalid  all  through 
the  war,  and  his  senatorial  life,  no  man  did  harder  or 
better  work  for  his  country.  His  tribute  to  his  friend  was 
as  follows  : — 

I  first  met  Governor  Buckingham  when  he  took  his  seat  in  this  body 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1869.  I  felt  from  the  first  that  we  were  friends, 
and  we  were.  He  always  expressed  a  deep  interest  in  my  health; 
his  inquiries  were  always  tender  and  almost  from  day  to  day.  Though 
I  had  never  met  Governor  Buckingham  until  that  time,  yet  we  had 
been  in  correspondence  before  under  circumstances  of  a  most  solemn 
character.  It  was,  I  think,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  a  few  weeks,  per 
haps  a  month,  before  the  issue  of  the  proclamation  of  emancipation 
by  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  I  received  a  long  letter  from  Governor  Bucking 
ham,  in  which  he  discussed  the  general  situation  of  the  country.  It 
was  at  a  gloomy  period,  when  victory  was  not  resting  upon  our  arms. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  letter  he  suggested  the  question  whether  the 
government  was  doing  its  duty  in  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery, 
and  whether  we  could  hope  for  ultimate  victory  while  that  institution 
was  protected  and  preserved,  but  he  expressed  himself  as  uncertain  as 
to  whether  the  time  had  arrived  when  any  step  could  be  taken 
toward  its  destruction.  He  said  he  had  had  an  interview  or  a  letter, 
I  forget  which,  but  recently  from  Governor  Andrew  of  Massachusetts, 
which  had  led  him  to  write  me  on  the  subject.  In  replying,  I  agreed 
with  him  upon  the  main  suggestion  of  his  letter,  expressing  the 
same  doubt,  however,  as  to  whether  the  time  was  ripe,  whether 
public  opinion  was  in  that  condition  to  authorize  the  President 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  493 

of  the  United  States  to  take  the  decisive  step  which  he  after 
wards  took. 

During  my  intercourse  with  Governor  Buckingham  as  a  member  of 
this  body,  he  often  talked  to  me  about  his  experiences  as  Governor 
during  the  war.  We  often  compared  notes  upon  that  subject.  He 
evidently  regarded  his  services  as  Governor  of  Connecticut  during  the 
war  as  the  great  event  of  his  life,  and  on  several  occasions  expressed 
his  doubts  as  to  whether  it  was  wise  or  expedient  for  him  to  accept  a 
seat  in  this  body,  and  whether  he  ought  not  to  have  retired  from 
public  life  when  the  war  was  over. 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  last  session,  and  before  his  departure, 
he  came  across  to  my  seat  where  I  was  sitting,  and  said:  "  Well,  we 
are  about  to  separate.  I  hope  we  will  meet  next  winter  in  better 
health."  He  said :  "I  am  an  old  man,  and  feel  that  my  race  is  nearly 
run."  He  said:  "There  are  only  three  of  us  left  who  served  as 
governor  of  our  respective  States  throughout  the  entire  war," 
referring  to  himself,  Governor  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  my 
self.  He  said  that  Yates  and  Andrew  were  gone,  and  that  we, 
notwithstanding  our  utmost  hopes,  must  soon  follow;  and  taking  me 
by  the  hand,  expressed  the  hope  that  we  should  meet  the  coming 
winter  in  better  health.  We  parted  to  meet  no  more. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  also,  similar  tributes 
were  paid  to  the  Senator  from  Connecticut,  by  Messrs. 
Starkweather,  Kellogg,  Wilson  of  Iowa,  Potter  of  New  York, 
and  General  Hawley,  who  afterwards  succeeded  him  in  the 
Senate.  Those  especially  of  the  Connecticut  members  are 
not  only  discriminating  and  heart-felt,  but  they  are  more  at 
length  in  historic  detail  and  illustrative  facts,  and  justify 
what  has  been  said  by  others.  So  that  there  is  no  great 
difficulty  in  telling  what  kind  of  a  man  "  the  War  Governor 
of  Connecticut "  was,  or  what  he  did  for  the  country,  for 
the  Union,  and  for  freedom.  It  is  evident  what  Connecti 
cut  thinks  of  him,  when  she  puts  the  statue  of  Trumbull, 
her  "  War  Governor  of  the  Revolution,"  as  her  representa 
tive  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  and  lets  the  statue  of 
Buckingham,  her  "  War  Governor  of  the  Rebellion,"  greet 
you  when  you  enter  her  State  Capitol  at  Hartford.  She 
means  that  they  shall  go  down  together  in  history,  as  her 
legacy  to  the  country,  to  Republican  government,  and 
to  humanity. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PERSONAL  TRAITS  OP  CHARACTER. 

Governor  Buckingham's  Connection  with  Christian  and  Benevolent 
Associations — The  First  Triennial  Congregational  Council — His 
Ability  as  its  Moderator— His  Style  of  Writing  and  Address- 
Photograph  Copy  of  His  Letter  to  the  President  in  Transmit 
ting  their  Paper  on  the  "  State  of  the  Country." 

Little  more  remains  to  complete  the  Memoir  of  Governor 
Buckingham,  than  to  refer  to  his  connection  with  the  lead 
ing  religious,  educational,  and  philanthropic  organizations 
of  the  times.  With  all  such  he  was  in  sympathy,  and  with 
some  actively  concerned  in  their  management,  and  among 
their  most  generous  supporters. 

He  was  a  corporate  member  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  oldest,  we  believe, 
of  the  American  foreign  missionary  societies,  and  certainly 
one  of  the  most  efficient  and  successful  in  its  work.  Here 
he  was  a  counselor,  as  well  as  generous  contributor  to  their 
work,  and  one  of  those  who,  when  the  times  were  bad  and 
the  contributions  of  the  churches  falling  short,  could  be 
called  upon  to  make  up  such  deficiencies.  He  was  a  special 
friend  to  missionaries,  and  with  his  high  respect  for  their 
motives  and  self-denying  labors,  he  could  not  do  too  much 
to  make  them  enjoy  their  occasional  visits  to  this  country, 
and  contribute  to  their  comfort  when  they  should  have 
returned.  He  was  also  a  friend  and  steadfast  supporter  of 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  whose  object  is  to 
aid  the  feeble  churches  of  the  East,  and  plant  new  ones  in 
the  growing  settlements  of  the  West,  and  which  has  been 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  495 

so  successful  in  the  work  that,  of  all  the  Congregational 
churches  there,  probably  the  majority  of  them  have  been 
planted  and  nursed  into  self-support  through  its  agency. 
The  Western  College  and  Education  Society  was  another  of 
those  organizations  of  which  he  was  president,  adviser  and 
supporter  for  years.  This  was  a  society  to  found  and  sup 
port  Western  colleges,  and  also  to  aid  young  men  in  their 
education  for  the  ministry. 

When  the  war  was  over,  and  the  South  was  left  with  all 
her  emancipated  slaves,  and  with  the  rights  of  citizenship 
conferred  upon  them,  it  was  natural  that  the  North  should 
pity  and  help  her,  as  well  as  have  some  regard  for  the 
safety  of  the  nation,  with  such  an  element  given  the  right 
to  vote.  Then  with  a  magnanimity  that  was  noble,  and  a 
generosity  that  was  superb,  there  came  those  Peabody,  and 
Slater,  and  Hand  endowment  funds,  for  the  education  of  the 
South,  and  that  noble  American  Missionary  Association, 
which  undertook  to  look  after  both  the  educational  and 
religious  welfare,  not  only  of  the  freedmen,  but  of  the 
"mountain  whites"  of  that  section  of  the  country,  and 
which  is  meeting  with  such  marked  success.  Of  course 
Governor  Buckingham  appreciated  it,  and  was  for  a  number 
of  years  its  honored  president,  giving  it  his  wisest  counsel 
and  generous  aid. 

He  was  also  well  known  as  a  good  friend  to  the  temperance 
cause.  His  father  was  the  first  in  his  native  town  to  give 
up  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  in  his  family  and  upon  his  farm, 
and  he  himself  entered  upon  his  business  life  with  such 
principles  and  habits.  He  had  too  much  reflection  not  to 
see  what  mischief  the  drinking  habit  was  causing,  and 
how  easily  it  could  be  prevented  by  total  abstinence,  and 
regard  enough  for  others  to  make  the  little  >  acrifice  required 
to  aid  so  good  a  cause.  And  the  ease  with  which  ho 
did  -.L  in  tho  various  positions  lie  occupied,  arid  in  the 
circles  where  he  moved,  as  his  Washington  friends  would 


496  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

tell  you,*  caused  him  no  embarrassment  and  only  won 
from  others  the  more  respect.  Governor  Buckingham  was 
for  several  years  the  president  of  the  Connecticut  Temper 
ance  Union,  which  is  still  engaged  by  lecturers,  colporteurs 
and  publications  in  promoting  this  cause. 

But  the  most  important  and  probably  the  most  interest 
ing  position  of  this  kind  offered  to  Governor  Buckingham, 
was  to  be  called  to  preside  over  the  "  First  Triennial  Con 
gregational  Council,"  held  in  Boston,  June,  1865.  This 
was  a  part  of  the  reconstructional  work  called  tor  at  the 
end  of  the  war,  which  had  reference  to  the  Congregational 
churches  of  the  country. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  New  England,  Congrega 
tionalism  and  Presbyterianism  were  so  much  alike  in 
Christian  faith  and  church  government,  that  they  carried 
on  their  home  missionary  and  foreign  missionary  work 
through  the  same  organizations.  Their  members  and 
ministers  were  always  recognized  in  one  body  as  well  as 
the  other.  And  when  Congregationalists  removed  to  the 
new  States,  it  was  considered  advisable  that  they  should 
connect  themselves  with  Presbyterian  churches  already 
established,  and  not  divide  their  strength  by  rival  enter 
prises.  But  when  the  New  England  settlers  became  numer 
ous,  it  was  necessary  that  their  love  for  their  own  form  of 
church  government  should  be  gratified,  and  for  the  interest 

*When  Secretary  Bayard,  of  President  Cleveland's  cabinet,  came  North  a  few 
summers  ago  to  deliver  the  annual  address  to  the  Law  School  of  Yale  University, 
and  was  introduced,  at  the  president's  levee,  to  the  Governor's  niece,  as  he  heard 
the  name,  he  asked  if  she  was  any  relative  of  Senator  Buckingham,  and  being  told 
of  the  relationship,  he  smilingly  said  :  "  You  know  your  uncle  was  a  good  temper 
ance  man,  and  that  while  he  gave  us  good  dinners,  he  never  would  give  us  any 
liquors.  A  party  of  us  were  dining  with  him  one  evening,  when  we  happened  to 
be  almost  all  Democrats.  We  rallied  him,  and  told  him  that  he  was  evidently  try- 
Ing  to  kill  off  the  Democratic  party,  because  he  would  give  no  liquor.  It  so  hap 
pened  that  in  the  course  of  the  evening  there  came  a  sleet  storm,  such  as  is  common 
at  Washington  during  the  winter,  and  when  we  came  out  we  all  found  ourselves 
slipping  down  and  helping  each  other  up,  like  a  company  of  intoxicated  people. 
The  next  morning  the  story  was  told  at  the  Senate  chamber  before  Senator  Buck 
ingham  arrived,  and  when  he  came  he  was  rallied  upon  having  turned  out  such  a 
drunken  crew  at  that  hour  of  the  night  from  his  temperance  mansion." 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  497 

of  the  country  that  they  should  be  encouraged  and  aided 
in  that  work.     The  South,  too,  and  Southwest,  where  there 
were  no  such  churches,  but  mostly  Baptist,  Methodist  and 
Presbyterian,  was  to  be  thrown  open  to  Northern  settlers, 
and  it  was  desirable  that  the  best  of  our  churches  should 
be  introduced,  as  well  as  our  industry,  and  skill,  and  system 
of  education.     But  more  than  all,  our  civil  government  was 
so  essentially  modeled  alter  this  form  of  church  govern 
ment—each    State    self-governed,   and    by   the  majority, 
and  in  the  general  government  all  the  States  having  the 
benefit  of  the  wisdom  and  co-operation  of  the  rest— that  it 
seemed  as  if  this  best  school  for  training  in  citizenship 
ought  not  to  be  shut  out  from  any  part  of  the  land.     It 
allowed  each  church  to  adopt  its  own  creed,  and  if  it  was 
deemed  by  the  rest  sufficiently  scriptural  and  evangelical, 
it  was  recognized  by  the  rest  as  a  Christian  church,  and 
could  administer  its  own  discipline  and  manage  its  own 
affairs.     Only  in  matters  of  "  common  concernment,"  such 
as  the   organization  of   churches,  and   the  ordination   of 
their   ministers,  and   the  settlement  of  difficulties  which 
they  cannot  settle  themselves,  are  they  expected  to  seek 
advice  of  other  churches,  and  in  this  consists  the  difference 
between  them  and  simply  independent  churches,  like  those 
of  Great  Britain.     Even  the  results  of  these  advisory  coun 
cils  are  not  authoritative,  but  advisory,  as  one  of  the  early 
New  England  fathers,  Richard  Mather,  has  said  :     «  The 
result  of  any  council  hath  only  so  much  force  as  there  is 
force  in  the  reason  for  the  same."     While  another  of  those 
fathers,  Cotton  Mather,  happily  testifies  that  "  in  the  early 
periods  of  our  ecclesiastical  history,  such  bodies  were  so 
judiciously  constituted  and  their  decisions  so  respectfully 
received,  that  the  councils  in  the  churches  of  New  England 
rarely  met  with  contradiction   from   the  churches  whose 
cases  were  laid  before  them." 
And  while  they  believed  that  no  particular  form  of  church 


498  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

government  was  laid  down  and  required  in  the  New  Testa 
ment,  they  held  that  any  company  of  believers  under  the 
guidance  of  the  apostles  were  allowed  to  choose  their1  own 
bishops  and  elders  for  the  apostles  to  consecrate  and  set 
apart  to  such  service,  so  they  became  thoroughly  demo 
cratic  in  their  church  government.  And  while  they  pro 
posed  to  make  of  their  civil  government  a  Christian  com 
monwealth,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  organize  a  Union 
of  Independent  States,  and  create  a  self-governing  Repub 
lic.  So  this  independence  of  churches,  and  their  union  for 
conference  and  mutual  counsel,  became  the  characteristic 
of  Congregationalism,  in  distinction  from  Episcopacy,  or 
Presbyterianism,  or  Methodism. 

To  secure  the  full  results  of  union,  as  well  as  independ 
ency,  it  was  necessary  for  the  churches  to  consult  with 
one  another  in  regard  to  their  common  interests,  as  they 
did  in  the  organization  of  churches  and  the  ordination  and 
dismission  of    pastors,  and  sometimes  larger  councils,  or 
4<  synods,"   as  they  were  called,  were  convened  when  the 
interests  of    all   required  it.      Thus   a   general    synod  or 
council  was  convened  in  1637,  made  up  of  all  the  churches 
of  New  England.     There  were  only  nineteen  of  them  then, 
thirteen  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  four  at  Plymouth,  and  two 
in  Connecticut.     Another  synod  was  held  in  1646,  when 
the  churches  of  New  England  had  increased  to  fifty-three. 
There  was  another  in  1662,  and  still  another  in  1680,  both 
of  which  were  confined  to  Massachusetts.     Then  came  the 
synod  at   Saybrook,  Conn.,  in  1708,  which  was  confined  to 
Connecticut.     For  200  years  there  had  been  no  general 
Congregational  council,  until  in  1852  one  was  convened  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  to  consider  the  changed  condition  and  duties 
of  these  churches,  and   resulted  greatly  in  their  increased 
extension  and  usefulness.     Up  to  that  time  Congregation 
alism  had  been  confined   almost  entirely  to  New  England, 
but  now  commenced  its  national  work.     As  showing  the 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  499 

need  of  it,  from  the  Albany  Council  in  1852,  which  repre 
sented   only  2,000  churches,   they  had   become   3,000   in 
1865,  when  the  Boston  Council  was  held,  and  may  now 
be   reckoned    at  5,000.      It   was    deemed    as    important 
to  the  welfare  of  the  churches  as  reconstruction  in  civil 
matters  was  to  the  State.     It  was  a  large  council,  con 
sisting  of  500  members,  and  representing  3,000  churches 
of  the   country,  with  delegates  from   some  forty  foreign 
bodies.     It   is  needless   to   eay  that  the    ablest  members 
of  the  denomination  were  there,  laymen  as  well  as  min 
isters.      Dr.   Leonard    Bacon   was   there,   the    Nestor   of 
Congregationalism,  and  so  was  Dr.  Dexter,  the  historian  of 
the   Pilgrims.      The  colleges  were  well   represented   and 
President  Sturtevant  of  Illinois  College  preached  the  open 
ing  sermon,  while  President  Stearns  of  Amherst  College 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  to  make  the  final  revision 
of  the  "  Declaration  of  Faith."     So  were  the  theological 
seminaries  represented,  and  their  ablest  men  predominated 
on  the  committee  which  drew  up  and  agreed  upon  the  first 
draft  of  the  "  Declaration  of  Faith."     Some  of  these  com 
mittees  were  quite  large,  like  that  of  twenty  members  on 
the  "  State  of  the  Country,"  of  which  Dr.  Post  of  St.  Louis 
was  the  chairman,  and  one-half  the  rest  were  from  among 
the  eminent  civilians  of  the  land.     Of  the  committee  on 
"  Ministerial  Support,"  four  out  of  five  were  laymen,  whose 
ability  was  as  much  at  the  service  of  the  churches  as  it  was 
in   demand   for  the  business  enterprises  of  the  country. 
Some  of  the  papers  submitted  to  the  council,  like  the  one 
on  «  The  Government  and  Fellowship  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  in  the  United  States,"  were  the  work  of  a  com 
mittee  of  only  two,  Drs.   Bacon  and  Quint,  who  had  been 
designated  beforehand  for  this  work,  and  which  is  in  itself 
a  treatise  on  Congregational  church   polity,  as  well  as  a 
history  of  its  administration  and  results  in  this  country  for 
two  centuries  and  a  half.     All  this  work  of  the  council 


500  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

required  not  only  rare  scholarship  and  good  theology,  and 
ability  to  organize  and  administer  well,  but  demanded,  espe 
cially  at  such  a  time,  grander  conceptions  of  the  future 
that  was  opening  to  us  in  the  re-establishment  of  our 
Republic,  and  in  the  new  order  of  things  to  come  at  the 
South,  and  in  the  increased  immigration  to  flow  in  upon  us 
from  every  land,  and  in  the  new  development  of  our  re 
sources  to  take  place,  and  the  wealth  and  culture  and 
unbounded  enterprise  to  follow.  More  or  less  of  this  any 
ordinary  forecast  might  have  discerned,  while  the  prophets 
of  our  race,  especially  those  who  had  been  always  walking 
in  the  light  of  Christian  revelations,  were  prepared,  like  the 
saints  of  old  (Heb.  xi :  13),  to  salute  these  caravans  of  the 
desert  in  the  distance,  and  ready  to  direct  the  wise  men 
from  the  East  to  the  infant  Redeemer. 

There  was  one  occurrence  in  the  council  which  seriously 
threatened  its  harmony,  and  but  for  the  frank  acknowledg 
ments  on  one  side,  and  the  magnanimous  acceptance  of 
them  on  the  other,  would  have  sadly  marred  the  faultless 
Christian  spirit  of  the  whole.  One  of  the  foreign  delegates, 
editor  of  a  British  quarterly,  which  had  expressed  no  sym 
pathy  with  us  in  our  fearful  struggle,  and  been  particularly 
persistent  in  its  dark  foreboding  of  our  future,  called  out 
from  Dr.  Quint,  who  had  been  a  chaplain  in  our  Union 
army,  the  following  natural  and  irrepressible  sense  of 
wrong  that  had  been  done  us  :— 

When  I  went  to  settle  in  the  place  where  I  now  live,  I  found  that 
my  people's  property,  being  upon  the  sea,  had  been  given  to  the  flames 
by  British  pirates,  vessels  of  war  built  in  England,  manned  and 
supplied  there.  And  when  I  was  in  the  service  of  my  country  and 
saw  my  comrades  dead,  when  I  saw  friends  from  Wisconsin,  Indiana 
and  New  York  dead  side  by  side,  I  knew  that  they  fell  by  British 
bullets,  from  British  muskets  loaded  with  British  powder,  fired  by 
men  wearing  British  shoes  and  British  clothing,  and  backed  up  by 
British  sympathy. 


WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM.  501 

Here  he  stopped,  leaving  the  sentence  unfinished,  as  if 
he  could  not  bear  to  draw  the  only  fit  conclusion.  And 
after  making  some  quotations  from  that  Review  which  was 
regarded  as  the  organ  of  the  Congregationalists  of  England, 
he  said  that  he  "  could  not  hold  himself  responsible  for 
fraternal  fellowship  "  with  that  body,  until  such  sympathy 
with  ,wrong,  and  justification  of  such  measures,  were 
regretted  and  repudiated. 

Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  also  had  complaint  to  make 
of  his  reception  in  Great  Britain,  and  the  lack  of  sympathy 
he  found  there  among  Christian  people  and  even  among 
the  Congregational  churches.  And  but  for  the  explanation, 
and  regret,  and  apology  of  the  foreign  delegate,  there  might 
have  been  a  permanent  alienation  cherished  between  us  and 
the  Congregational  Union  of  Great  Britain,  whose  relations 
have  always  been,  and  still  are,  so  peculiarly  pleasant.  As 
it  was,  however,  these  two  American  brethren  called  up 
their  English  brother,  and  pledged  him  their  abiding  confi 
dence,  and  only  challenged  him  and  the  churches  he  repre 
sented  to  outdo  us  if  they  would  in  the  evangelization  of 
the  world. 

The  most  significant  and  impressive  occurrence  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  council,  however,  was  its  adjournment 
to  Plymouth,  the  landing  place  of  the  Pilgrims,  where,  on 
that  "  Burial  Hill "  overlooking  the  rock  upon  which  they 
landed,  and  the  sea  which  separated  them  so  far  from  their 
native  land,  and  surrounded  by  the  graves  of  one-half  the 
Mayflower's  company  who  died  the  first  winter — there,  on 
that  holy  ground,  at  midday,  and  before  high  heaven,  with 
prayer,  and  psalm,  and  under  a  solemn  sense  of  duty  to 
God  and  to  mankind,  they  read  and  adopted  that  "Declara 
tion  of  Faith,"  and  pledged  themselves  to  carry  out  their 
fathers'  plans,  in  founding  here  a  Christian  commonwealth 
for  the  welfare  of  the  world. 

The  council  returned  to  Boston,  where,  after  closing  up 


502  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

its  business,  and  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  of  thanks 
to  the  moderator,  and  his  reply,  it  was  dissolved.  Rev.  Dr. 
Wolcott  of  Ohio  offered  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  unanimously  adopted  : — 

Resolved,  That  this  council  tenders  to  His  Excellency,  Governor 
Buckingham,  our  honored  moderator,  for  the  dignity,  urbanity  and 
courtesy  with  which  he  has  presided  over  its  deliberations,  to  which 
in  part  we  ascribe  the  pleasant  cordiality  of  feeling,  unmarred  by 
harshness,  which  has  prevailed  throughout  its  earnest  discussions; 
and  as  a  National  Council,  we  express  the  satisfaction  with  which  we 
are  reminded  by  this  assembly  of  the  early  days  of  our  Puritan 
history,  when  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  colonies  were  the  servants 
of  the  churches,  and  the  honors  of  the  State  were  humbly  laid  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross. 

The  moderator  replied  as  follows: — 

MB.  MODEKATOK:— I  am  not  prepared,  not  able,  properly  to  reply  to 
that  resolution.  I  remember,  by  history,  that  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  years  ago,  my  paternal  ancestor  presided  as  assistant  moderator 
of  that  synod  which  adopted  the  Saybrook  platform.  For  me  to 
occupy  such  a  position  as  I  do  to-day,  through  your  partiality,  is  a 
high  privilege.  I  believe  I  occupy  it,  in  part,  in  consequence  of  the 
partiality  which  has  been  manifested  by  the  citizens  of  Connecticut 
toward  me,  in  placing  me  in  a  position  which  has  linked  my  name,  for 
the  few  years  past,  with  the  government  of  that  little  State,  so  inti 
mately  connected  with  the  cause  of  liberty  and  civil  government. 
This  also  has  been  an  unspeakable  privilege,  occurring  as  it  has 
during  the  period  when,  all  the  interests  of  civil  government  have 
been,  as  it  were,  concentrated  upon  the  events  of  the  passing  hour  or 
year.  No  events  have  ever  transpired  in  the  history  of  this  world,  of 
such  importance  to  civilization,  to  civil  government,  to  morality,  to 
religion,  as  the  events  which  have  transpired  before  us.  It  is  a 
privilege  to  live  at  such  a  time;  and  it  is  a' privilege  to  be  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  State  whose  patriotism  goes  down  to  the  very  depths 
of  love,  and  offers  her  sons  and  her  fathers  as  sacrifices  on  the  altar 
of  liberty. 

But  there  are  still  higher  interests  than  those  of  merely  civil  govern 
ment;  there  are  higher  interests  than  those  which  are  merely  tempo 
ral;  for  they  will  pass  away.  This  council  binds  us  to  those  higher 
interests,  reaching  from  this,  on  to  another  life.  And  to  be  connected 
with  a  body  like  this,  which  takes  action  for  the  promotion  of  those 
interests,  is  a  higher  privilege  than  is  enjoyed  by  any  man  whose 


WILLIAM   A.     BUCKINGHAM.  503 

duties  relate  merely  to  earthly  things.  I  rejoice  in  it.  I  am  grateful 
to  you.  I  thank  you  for  your  forbearance  toward  me.  I  am  grateful 
to  God,  who  grants  me  this  privilege. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  answer  the  inquiry 
which  will  so  naturally  be  made :  "  How  did  Governor 
Buckingham  come  by  his  peculiar  qualifications  for  the 
work  in  life  which  he  was  called  upon  to  do  ?  "  He  never 
was  regarded  as  a  genius.  He  never  had  a  liberal  educa 
tion  in  the  modern  sense,  only  somewhat  more  than  the 
ordinary  advantages  of  a  New  England  boy  fifty  years  ago. 
He  was  trained  to  business,  and  by  his  good  judgment, 
enterprise  and  integrity  became  successful  in  it.  He  had 
no  political  ambitions,  and  though  he  had  distinct  opinions 
upon  public  affairs,  and  in  his  own  community  used  his 
influence  to  maintain  what  he  regarded  as  the  best  adminis 
tration  of  the  government,  he  was  content  to  serve  his 
country  there.  He  had  always  sat  under  'the  best  of 
preaching  and  enjoyed  it.  He  had  been  a  careful  student 
of  the  Bible  and  all  his  life  a  Sunday-school  teacher,  and 
acquired  the  pure  and  simple  style  of  thinking  and  writing 
which  so  many  scholars  and  public  men  have  derived  from 
the  same  source.  Accustomed  to  undertake  whatever  came 
to  him  as  a  duty  and  train  himself  to  do  it  properly,  he 
was  naturally  called  upon  to  fill  important  positions  and 
sometimes  to  assume  heavy  responsibilities.  And  with  no 
vanity  from  promotion,  but  with  only  an  increased  sense  of 
responsibility  and  prayer  for  wisdom  and  fidelity,  he  stood 
modestly  before  the  people  of  Connecticut  when  war  was 
threatening  and  she  was  chiefly  anxious  to  entrust  her 
interests  to  safe  keeping.  Thus  introduced  into  public  life 
at  such  a  crisis,  and  with  the  people  of  the  State  having 
full  confidence  in  his  leadership  and  ready  to  follow  him 
wherever  he  showed  the  way,  he  was  enabled  to  give  to  that 
little  State  an  influence  out  of  proportion  to  her  size  in  the 
settlement  of  the  strife  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  Union, 


504 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


There  was  one  kind  of  ability  in  which  he  was  thought 
to  excel,  and  that  was  to  preside  over  public  bodies,  and 
judo-ing  from  the  frequency  with  which  he  was  called  upon 
for  such  service,  there  must  have  been  some  reason  for  it. 
We  have  the  full  and  discriminating  judgment  of  one  of 
the  members  of  the  late  council,  which  satisfactorily 
explains  that  matter.  It  was  a  large  council,  was  in  session 
ten  days  and  occupied  with  all-important  subjects,  and 
made  up  of  those  who  were  making  it  the  woik  of  their 
lives  to  understand  them.  There  were  endless  questions 
arising,  and  complicated  ones,  and  in  the  freedom  and 
earnestness  of  such  discussions  as  actually  took  place 
there  was  occasion  for  perplexity  and  disorder.  And  yet 
this  member  writes  : — 

No  single  facts  perhaps  worth  repeating,  stand  out  on  the  page  of 
my  memory  respecting  him.  But  my  impressions  of  him  and  my 
judgment  in  respect  to  his  character,  are  that  he  was  a  man  eminently 
candid,  courteous  in  his  decisions,  without  being  dilatory  or  timid; 
a  man  who  when  his  mind  was  made  up  went  straight  to  his  mark, 
un warped  by  self-interest  or  prejudice.  Whether  he  was  a  large 
reader  of  books  or  not,  1  could  not  determine.  But  in  his  public  ad 
dresses,  his  utterances  always  seemed  to  me  to  flow  from  a  well- 
stored  and  cultured  mind.  His  thoughts  were  lucid,  his  arguments 
full  of  that  strong  common  sense  which  carries  conviction,  never  sen 
sational  or  farfetched,  and  always  above  the  common-place  style. 

What  especially  attracted  my  attention  and  elicited  my  admiration, 
when  he  presided  over  public  meetings,  was  the  perfect  equipoise 
which  he  maintained.  He  knew  his  points  of  order,  and  fell  into  no 
blunders  in  a  moment  of  excitement  when  questions  of  order  became 
complicated;  he  straightened  out  the  tangle  of  debate  with  the  most 
perfect  ease  without  any  show  of  flusters  or  even  effort. 

That  he  was  a  solidly  good  man,  all  who  associated  with  him  bear 
a  united  testimony.  Modest  in  his  manner,  kind  and  helpful  in 
counsels,  large-hearted  and  generous,  and  yet  quiet  in  his  benefac 
tions;  multitudes  are  even  now  rising  up  to  call  him  blessed.— [Rev. 
Mr.  Chesebrough  of  Connecticut. 

In  regard  to  Governor  Buckingham  as  a  public  speaker, 
and  his  style  of  address,  Prof.  Hoppin,  the  long-time  pro 
fessor  of  homiletics  in  Yale  University,  when  consulted  in 


WILLIAM   A.    BUCKINGHAM.  505 

regard  to  it,  instead  of  giving  a  criticism,  gave  this  remem 
brance  of  one  of  his  war  speeches,  at  the  most  critical 
period  of  the  war: — 

On  the  evening  of  July  2,  1862,  I  attended  a  war  meeting  in  New 
Haven.     It  was  when  matters  were  at  the  lowest  ebb.     Our  armies 
were  out-generaled,  their  existence  imperiled.     Admiral  Foote,  fresh 
from  the  Western  campaign,  presided  over  the  vast  meeting  held  in 
Music  Hall.    He  and  others  made  impressive  addresses.    But  none  of 
them  compared  with  the  speech  of  Governor  Buckingham.    It  was  as 
tonishing  in  its  electrifying  power.    It  was  the  hour  and  the  man.    I  do 
not  know  that  Governor  Buckingham  was  looked  upon  as  a  great  orator 
for  he  did  not  speak  much,  though  always  sensibly  and  well,  while  in 
the  Senate.    But  on  this  occasion  he  cast  oratory  and  orators  behind 
his  back.    It  was  the  earnestness  of  absolute  conviction,  of  love  of 
country,  that  roused  the  depths  of  a  noble  nature.     His  speech  was 
short,  but  every  word  told.     His  form  seemed  to  expand,  his  voice  to 
deepen,  and  his  eye  to  grow  luminous  with  the  concentrated  force  of 
a  lofty  purpose.     His  manner  was  charged  with  power,  and  men's 
hearts  were  lifted  from  the  depths  of  depression  to  a  new  height  of 
courage  and  hope.     He  affirmed  in  a  few  words  his  confidence  in  the 
government.    He  declared  that  the  time  had  come  when  we  must  be 
men  enough  to  meet  the  crisis  that  was  upon  us.     We  had  not  yet 
half  estimated  the  strength  of  the  rebellion.    The  army  was  in  danger 
and  must  be  reinforced,  or  it  and  the  country  would  be  lost.     Where 
one  man  was  needed  now,  four  more  would  be  wanted  a  month  hence. 
The  surrender  of  one's  life  now  would  save  a  hundred  lives  hereafter 
More  men  should  be  raised  by  volunteering  and  not  by  draft.     Free 
men   should  have  the  privilege  offered    them  of    fighting  for  the 
country.    And  he  as  Governor  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  would  not 
draft  men,  except  by  direct  order  of  the  Executive.     But  what  was 
now  wanted  was  that  they  should  lay  their  lives  on  the  altar  of  their 
country.    The  foreign  nations  of  the  old  world  were  clamorino-  for 
intervention.     But,  said  he,  in  ringing  tones:    "If  I  had  the  entire 
American  press  at  my  command,  I  would  send  the  voice  of  the  whole 
nation  across  the  Atlantic,  and  bid  defiance  to  their  combined  power  " 
These  courageous  words  were  received  with  tremendous  enthusiasm, 
and  were  recognized  as  the  utterances  of  a  brave  man,  who  spoke  the 
words  that  ought  to  be  spoken  at  that  moment.     This  was  more  than 
eloquence—it  was  the  living  energy  of  truth  and  faith. 

The  Governor's  style  of  writing  was  familiar  to  the  public 
through  his  messages  to  the  Legislature,  his  proclamations, 
his  correspondence  as  published,  and  was  known  to  be  clear, 


506  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

simple,  dignified,  appropriate,  and  sometimes  magnificently 
noble  and  impressive.  We  must  think  his  personal  letter 
to  President  Lincoln,  in  June,  1862,  urging  him  to  call  for 
many  more  troops  if  he  expected  to  put  down  the  rebellion, 
and  pledging  himself  and  his  State  to  sustain  him  in  it 
with  all  their  resources,  was  in  the  perfection  of  style,  and 
in  the  best  of  spirit. 

We  append  to  this  chapter,  a  photographed  copy  of  his 
letter  to  President  Johnson,  conveying  to  him  the  com 
munication  which  the  Council  made  to  him,  upon  the 
4i  state  of  the  country."  We  give  it  in  comparison  with  his 
other  photographed  letter,  so  hasty,  and  with  only  his  ini 
tials,  announcing  the  occupation  of  Richmond  by  some  of 
his  troops,  and  with  its  bold  and  characteristic  signature, 
found  upon  the  commission  of  so  many  veteran  soldiers 
and  every  State  officer,  and  so  familiar  to  everybody  in 
Connecticut. 


U  to**.  M/ 


M/nC  k*A-  d 


507 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

BUCKINGHAM  DAY. 

Unveiling  of  the  Statue— How  Ordered  and  How  Dedicated — Gather 
ing;  of  Old  Soldiers — Ceremonies  and  Addresses— Statue  Placed 
Among  the  Battle  Flags. 

Almost  as  soon  as  the  new  Capitol  building  at  Hartford 
was  finished,  the  proposal  to  place  in  it  a  statue  of  the  War 
Governor  was  brought  forward.  The  suggestion  was  iirst 
put  in  form  at  a  meeting  of  the  Hartford  Veteran  City 
Guard  in  1881.  A  petition  was  presented  to  the  Legisla 
ture  in  the  same  year,  and  a  special  joint  committee  of  the 
two  houses  was  appointed.  In  the  following  year,  on 
recommendation  of  this  committee,  a  commission  was 
appointed  to  procure  a  suitable  statue.  The  commission 
consisted  of  Governor  Hobart  B.  Bigelow,  the  Hon.  Henry 
B.  Harrison  of  New  Haven,  General  William  A.  Aiken  of 
Norwich,  George  G.  Hill  of  Hartford,  and  Thomas  I. 
Thurber  of  Putnam.  They  gave  the  commission  for  the 
statue  to  Olin  L.  Warner  of  New  York,  a  native  of  Con 
necticut  and  of  patriotic  ancestry.  The  sum  paid  for  the 
statue  was  $  10,000,  and  $6,000  was  appropriated  for  the 
unveiling  ceremonies,  of  which  an  unexpended  balance  was 
returned  to  the  treasury.  The  legislative  commission  on 
the  statue  ceremonies  was  as  follows:  — 

John  Allen,  Senator  from  the  21st  District,  Captain  S.  B.  Home  of 
Winchester,  E.  Barrows  Brown  of  Groton,  Jabez  8.  Lathrop  of  Nor 
wich,  General  William  H.  Noble  of  Bridgeport,  James  W.  Spellman  of 
Suffield,  George  F.  Spencer  of  Deep  Kiver,  James  R.  Avers  of  Orange, 
Thomas  B.  Walker  of  Coventry. 


THE  BUCKINGHAM  STATUE  IN  THE  CAPITOL. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  509 

The  statue  was  placed  in  the  west  corridor  of  the  Capi 
tol,  where  on  two  sides  are  preserved  in  glass  cases  the 
battle  flags  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  which  Governor 
Buckingham  had  put  into  the  hands  of  his  troops  when  he 
sent  them  into  the  field,  and  which  he  received  when  they 
returned,  with  the  commendation  and  sympathy  which 
their  achievements  merited.  These  flags,  it  should  be 
mentioned,  had  already  been  removed  from  the  State 
Arsenal  to  the  new  Capitol,  in  1879,  with  the  most  impos 
ing  military  ceremonies.  And  nothing  could  have  stirred 
the  patriotism  of  the  people,  or  brought  together  more  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  than  those  ceremonies,  which 
were  only  equaled  in  their  perfection  of  arrangement,  and 
civic  decorations,  and  gorgeous  military  display,  by  these 
of  the  "  Buckingham  Day." 

The  unveiling  of  the  statue  was  fixed  for  June  18,  1884. 
The  city  was  hung  with  flags,  and  draperies,  and  inscrip 
tions.  The  public  buildings  were,  of  course,  richly  deco 
rated,  while  private  dwellings  excelled  them  in  richness  and 
taste,  and  some  of  the  great  business  blocks  were  festooned 
along  every  story,  with  rich  draperies  trailing  to  the  very 
ground.  The  inscriptions  along  the  line  of  march  were 
such  as  these  :  "The  State  will  forever  cherish  his  name;" 
"  For  such  a  man  praise,  honor  and  imitation,  but  not 
tears ; "  The  Friend  of  Education ; "  "  The  Friend  of  the 
Slave  ;  "  "  Take  good  care  of  the  Connecticut  men;"  "  We 
honor  him  who  was  a  tower  of  strength  in  Church  and 
State ; "  "  The  earth  which  bears  thee  dead,  has  not  alive 
a  truer  gentleman." 

No  buildings  could  shelter  such  a  crowd,  and  so  tents 
were  pitched  about  the  State  House  and  over  Bushnell 
Park.  No  hotel  or  restaurant  accommodation  could  feed 
such  a  multitude,  and  it  was  done  under  vast  pavilions  and 
at  the  public  expense.  It  was  a  beautiful  June  day,  though 
the  heat  was  excessive,  and  many  of  the  troops  and  espe- 


510  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

cially  the  veterans  must  have  suffered  from  their  march 
and  long  parade.  But  the  parade  was  carried  out  in  per 
fect  order  by  means  of  signals,  when  the  movements  of 
such  a  body  were  beyond  the  control  of  ordinary  commands. 
About  7.000  men  were  in  the  line,  and  they  were  all  virtu 
ally  military  organizations,  save  the  few  civil  officers  and 
guests  of  the  State.  Every  organization  that  went  to  the 
war  from  the  State  was  well  represented,  with  the  single 
exception  of  the  Third  Light  Battery,  which  maintains 
no  organization.  Every  regiment  was  there,  200  or  250 
strong.  The  veterans  were  in  dark  clothes  with  white 
neckties  and  gloves,  while  the  Connecticut  National  Guard 
in  their  State  uniform,  the  Governor's  foot  guard  in  their 
Revolutionary  and  antique  costumes,  and  the  New  York 
Seventh  Regiment,  the  guests  of  the  State,  with  their  choice 
membership,  equipments,  and  drill  gave  brilliancy  to  the 
scene,  while  bands  of  music  and  drum  corps  filled  in  every 
interval  of  the  procession,  and  responded  to  each  other  in 
every  variety  of  martial  music. 

The  procession  was  led  by  the  grand  marshal  of  the  day, 
preceded  by  a  platoon  of  police,  and  accompanied  by  his 
general  staff,  aids  and  signal  corps.  This  officer  was  Major 
John  C.  Kinney  of  Hartford,  acting  signal  officer  with 
Admiral  Farragut  in  the  capture  of  Mobile  Bay,  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  the  exact  and  graphic  account  of  that 
fight,  as  seen  from  the  masthead  with  the  admiral,  to  be 
found  in  the  "  War  Book,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  379.  His  general 
staff  was  as  follows  : — 

Major  General  Henry  W.  Birge,  Thirteenth  C.  V.,  assistant  grand 
marshal;  Captain  William  Berry,  Twelfth  C.  V.,  department  com 
mander  G.  A.  R.,  chief  of  staff;  Major  J.  Hartwell  Butler,  U  S.  army, 
adjutant  general;  General  L.  A.  Dickinson,  captain  Twelfth  C.  V, 
Hartford;  General  (Rev.)  Erastus  Blakeslee,  New  Haven,  First  Con 
necticut  Cavalry;  Dr.  Archibald  T.  Douglas,  New  London,  surgeon 
Tenth  C.  V.;  Dr.  William  M.  Mather,  Suffield,  surgeon  173d  N.  Y. 
V.;  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  Philadelphia,  chaplain  Tenth  C.  V.; 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  511 

Rev.  J.  H.  Twichell,  Hartford,  chaplain  Sickles  Brigade;  Lieutenant 
John  C.  Abbott,  U.  S.  Signal  Corps;  Major  C.  L.  Burdett,  First  C.  N. 
G.,  engineer.* 

In  one  of  the  divisions  came,  under  the  escort  of  the  Gov 
ernor's  foot  guard,  Governor  Waller  and  staff,  mounted ; 
Captain  George  M.  Southmayd,  assistant  marshal;  the 
Lieutenant  Governor,  ex-Governors  of  the  State,  the  State 
officers,  the  Buckingham  Statue  Commission,  commis 
sioners  on  the  unveiling  exercises,  the  orator  of  the  day, 
United  States  Senator  0.  H.  Platt ;  the  sculptor,  Olin  D. 
Warner,  surviving  State  officers  of  the  war  review,  and 
military  staff  of  Governor  Buckingham ;  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  and  Superior  Courts,  Brigadier  General  S.  R. 
Smith,  C.  N.  G.  and  staff,  military  and  naval  guests  and 
the  mayor  of  Hartiord,  and  the  mayors  of  other  cities. 
Another  division  was  made  up  of  the  "  Union  Battalion," 
soldiers  of  other  States,  1,200  strong,  and  a  navy  battalion 
of  300  men,  besides  several  detachments  of  Sons  of  Vet 
erans.  Still  another  division  was  composed  of  the  Con 
necticut  Cavalry  Association,  with  250  members,  led  by 
one  of  our  New  England  pastors,  under  the  title  of  Brevet 
Brigadier  General  Erastus  Blakeslee,  followed  by  the  First 
Light  Battery,  whose  broken  wheel,  and  numerous  engagc.- 
ments  in  which  it  had  borne  an  honorable  part  inscribed 
upon  it,  is  one  of  the  objects  of  interest  among  the  treas 
ured  relics  of  the  war ;  the  Second  Light  Battery,  the  First 
Regiment  Heavy  Artillery,  under  Major  General  Abbott, 
with  570  men — the  regiment  so  prominent  in  the  war,  and 
forever  to  be  associated  with  Malvern  Hill  and  Gettysburg ; 
the  Second  Regiment  Heavy  Artillery,  Colonel  Jeffrey 


*  This  list  of  names  is  eminently  suggestive,  names  of  those  who  when  young 
men,  little  more  than  boys,  went  into  the  war  out  of  their  patriotism,  and  with 
good  abilities  and  good  principles  did  their  best  in  a  cause  they  appreciated,  and 
rose  from  one  rank  to  another,  until  the  State  is  proud  to  honor  them,  and  let  them 
represent  her  and  her  part  of  the  work,  which  she  is  this  day  immortalizing  in 
marble  and  bronze. 


512 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 


Skinner,  commanding,  250  men,  and  worthy  to  be  asso 
ciated  with  the  First  in  the  achievements  of  the  war. 

Next  came  in  order  all  the  thirty  regiments  of  the  war, 
some  of  them  represented  by  200  or  250  men,  while  others 
scarcely  reached  100  left  of  the  1,000  that  went  into  the 
field.  Each  had  had  its  own  peculiar  experience,  like  the 
Connecticut  troops  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  when 
"  fifty  of  them  lay  dead,  and  135  lay  wounded  on  the  field, 
and  500  more  were  on  their  way  to  rebel  prisons ; "  or  like 
the  Sixteenth  Connecticut,  that  unfortunate  regiment,  which 
was  hurried  into  the  battle  of  Antietam,  undicipiined  and 
scarcely  armed,  to  be  slaughtered  in  the  "  Cornfield,"  and 
soon  after  to  be  captured  at  Plymouth  and  sent  to  Ander- 
sonville  prison,  where,  out  of  400  men,  less  than  200  lived 
to  come  out.  The  official  account  of  the  day  says : 

Headquarter  tents  were  placed  along  the  river  bank  of  Bushnell 
Park,  properly  designated,  and  the  veterans  on  arriving  easily  found 
their  quarters,  and  formed  companies  and  battalions  without  delay. 
The  column  was  formed  in  platoons  of  twelve  files,  closed  in  mass, 
the  lines  being  handled  by  signals  from  elevated  points  commanding 
the  entire  line  and  preventing  any  breaks.  The  march  was  begun  at 
12  o'clock,  noon,  and  the  head  of  the  column  reached  the  Capitol 
about  2  o'clock.  The  parade  marched  through  Ford,  Hoyt,  Church 
and  Ann  streets  to  North  Main,  down  Main,  passing  around  City  Hall 
and  Post  Office  Square  to  the  South  Park,  through  Jefferson  and 
Washington  to  the  Capitol.  All  along  the  line  of  march  the  city  was 
brilliantly  decorated,  and  fully  70,000  people  witnessed  the  parade. 
During  its  progress  a  national  salute  was  fired  and  all  the  church 
bells  were  rung. 

Arriving  at  the  Capitol  the  commission  which  had  in 
charge  the  unveiling  of  the  statue,  the  State  officials  and 
the  guests  of  the  State,  as  well  as  the  military  staff  and 
friends  of  Governor  Buckingham,  were  detached  from  the 
procession,  and  as  many  more  as  could  find  room  within 
the  building  where  the  services  took  place. 

The  Hon.  John  Allen,  chairman  of  the  commission  on 


TEE  DISABLED  BATTERY  WHEEL 


THE    BATTLES    IN    WHICH    IT    HAD    BEEN    ENGAGED. 

>%THK  FIRST  LIGHT  BATTERY,  CT.  VOL.    A.  P.  ROCKWELL,  CAPT." 


11. 


Pccotaligo,  S.  C.,  May  28,  18G2.  12. 

James  Island,»S.  C.,  June  3,  4,  15,  16, 

1862.  13. 

Ft.  Finegan,  Fla.,  Oct.  3,  18G2.  14. 

Willtown,  S.  C.,  July  10,  18C3.  15. 

James  Island,  S.  C.,  July  16,  1863.  16. 

John's  Island,  S.  C.,  Feb.  20,  1864. 
Chester  Station,  Va.,  May  9,  10,  1864.        17. 
Richmond  Turnpike,  May  12.  1864.  18. 

Drury's  Bluff,  Va.,  May  16,  1864. 
Bermuda  Hundreds,  Va.,  •  May   19       19. 

and  June  27,  1864. 
West  Bottom  Church,  Va.,  June  16,        20. 

1864. 


Strawberry    Plains,    Va.,    July   26, 

1864. 

Grover  House,  Va.,  May  27,  1864. 
Four-mile  Creek,  Va.,  May  14,  1864. 
Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  Aug.  27,  1864. 
Before  Petersburg,  Va.,  Aug.  25  to 

Sept.  25, 1864. 

Chapin's  Bluff,  Va.,  Oct.  7,  1864. 
Johnson's  Farm,  Va.,  Oct.  13,  27, 

and  28,  1864. 
Before  Richmond,  Va.,  Oct.,  1864,  to 

April,  1865. 
Struck  in  action!  Proctor's  Creek, 

Va.,  May  15, 1865. 


518 


514  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

the  unveiling  ceremonies,  introduced  the  Rev.  Dr.  Merri- 
man,  who  offered  prayer.  The  statue  was  then  presented 
to  the  State  by  the  Hon.  Henry  B.  Harrison  of  the  statue 
commission,  and  accepted  by  Governor  Waller.  An  ex 
tract  from  each  speech  will  give  an  idea  of  the  feeling  that 
dominated  the  occasion.  Mr.  Harrison's  address  of  pre 
sentation  was  as  follows: — 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY:— To  you,  as  the  governor  and  official  represen 
tative  of  the  State,  the  commissioners,  who  were  directed  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  procure  and  cause  to  be  placed  in  the  battle-flag 
vestibule  of  the  Capitol  a  statue  of  Governor  Buckingham,  have  the 
honor  to  announce  that  they  have  discharged  the  duty  which  was 
thus  imposed  upon  them. 

The  statue  is  here.  It  is  covered  by  the  flag  of  the  State  and  of  the 
Nation  entwined  together.  The  hour  has  come  for  you  to  lift  them 
and  reveal  to  us  the  noble  figure  of  your  great  predecessor. 

There  was  an  illustrious  Greek  who  declared  that  he  had  no  accom 
plishments  or  graces,  but  that  he  knew  how  to  make  a  small  State 
great. 

He  whom  to-day  we  honor  was  himself  great,  because  he,  too,  knew 
how  to  make  a  small  State  great.  If  the  greatness  of  the  State  was 
not  made  by  him,  it  was  by  him  enhanced  and  exalted. 

He  was  the  chief  of  a  State  then  containing  less  than  470,000  people. 
But  he  knew  how,  in  the  dread  days  of  war,  so  to  inspire  and  so  to 
stimulate  this  little  commonwealth  as  to  make  her  send  forth  to 
battle  and  wounds  and  death  on  distant  fields,  for  the  sake  of  a 
righteous  cause,  more  than  53,000  of  her  sons— more  than  one- third, 
almost  one-half,  of  all  the  able-bodied  men  within  her  borders  fit 
to  bear  arms. 

Perhaps,  in  his  modesty,  he  did  not  know  that  he  was  great.  We 
ourselves,  who  did  know  it,  knew  not  how  great  he  was  until  death 
and  time,  revealers  of  the  truth,  enabled  us  to  take  the  just  measure 
of  his  grand  character  and  his  lofty  spirit. 

This  imposing  demonstration  is  the  unerring  witness  to  his  great 
ness.  From  every  hill,  from  every  valley,  from  every  city,  and  from 
every  hamlet  in  the  State  — from  many  States  and  from  distant 
States— the  scarred  veterans  of  the  holy  war  have  gathered  together 
here,  moved  by  one  spontaneous,  magnetic,  and  irresistible  impulse, 
to  associate  with  this  ceremonial  the  memories  of  their  patriotism, 
their  sacrifices,  and  their  valor.  With  the  soldiers  of  the  land  have 
come  the  warriors  of  the  sea.  And  with  the  soldiers  of  the  land  and 
the  warriors  of  the  sea,  a  vast  multitude  of  men,  of  all  conditions,  of 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  515 

all  temperaments,  of  all  beliefs,  and  of  all  passions,  have  come  up 
hither  with  one  accord  and  in  unity  of  spirit  as  to  a  high  solemnity. 

What  means  this  mighty  movement?  What  means  this  universal 
and  overpowering  impulse? 

It  is  the  mystery— the  old  and  eternal  mystery— of  the  power  of  a 
noble  and  royal  spirit,  a  noble  and  heroic  life,  over  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men. 

He  was  great  because  he  was  a  true  type  of  the  best  characteristics 
of  the  race  which  founded  and  peopled  Connecticut. 

His  sagacity  was  unerring;  his  courage  dauntless;  his  will  inflex 
ible;  his  devotion  to  duty  supreme;  his  faith  in  God  absolute. 

Like  the  race  from  which  he  sprung,  he  loved  peace;  but,  like  that 
race,  he  feared  not  war. 

The  sculptor,  himself  a  son  of  Connecticut,  in  whose  veins  runs 
the  same  blood  that  warmed  the  heart  of  one  of  her  early  heroes, 
has  approached  with  affectionate  reverence  the  work  which  was  com 
mitted  to  his  hands.  He  was  equal  to  the  work.  With  the  finger  of 
genius  he  has  touched  the  bronze  and  wakened  it  to  life  immortal. 
Remove,  sir,  the  veil,  and  disclose  to  us  the  grave  face  and  majestic 
form  of  the  War  Governor. 

Let  us  behold  him  in  the  midst  of  the  surroundings  which  best 
befit  him. 

This  stately  Capitol,  with  all  wealth  of  marble  and  of  granite 
and  of  decoration,  is  henceforth  to  be  his  appropriate  resting  place. 
This  vestibule,  consecrated  already  by  these  tattered  flags  which  his 
right  hand  delivered  to  the  brave  men  whom  he  sent  forth  to  battle 
and  his  right  hand  received  from  them  when  they  came  back  victo 
rious,  will  be  made  more  sacred  forever  by  his  august  presence. 

At  the  close  of  the  address  the  statue  was  uncovered  by 
Governor  Waller,  who  made  the  address  of  reception,  in 
which  he  said  : — 

The  stately  tigures,  in  marble  and  bronze,  of  Trumlmll  and  Buck 
ingham,  the  War  Governors  of  Connecticut  in  the  Revolution  and  the 
Rebellion,  now  adorn  this  magnificent  building,  and  the  places  they 
occupy  are  of  historic  import.  The  statue  of  Trumbull,  who  took 
such  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  formation  of  this  government,  stands 
where  in  honor  it  should,  at  the  very  portals  of  the  Capitol  of  this 
commonwealth.  The  statue  of  Buckingham  is  appropriately  here. 
Its  position  in  this  part  of  the  Capitol,  in  which  are  placed  the  sad 
but  honored  trophies  of  our  State  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  adds 
to  its  memorial  significance,  and  these  worn  and  blood-stained  battle 
flags,  standing  like  so  many  sentinels  of  honor  to  guard  it,  add  to 
its  glory. 


516  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

Connecticut  never  rendered  more  fitting  honors  than  those  of  to 
day,  to  either  civilian  or  soldier,  living  or  dead. 

Let  us,  fellow-citizens,  on  this  memorable  day,  at  the  base  of  this 
statue,  as  at  the  foot  of  an  altar,  consecrate,  ourselves  anew  to  that 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  our  State  and  our  country,  that  animated  the 
life  of  him  whose  effigy  we  are  beholding,  and  whose  memory  we 
revere. 

After  the  unveiling  of  the  statue,  the  orator  of  the  day, 
Hon.  Orville  H.  Platt,  United  States  Senator  from  Con 
necticut,  fitly  described  the  peaceful  characteristics  of  the 
State,  and  paid  worthy  tribute  to  her  love  of  liberty  and 
generous  response  when  called  upon  to  save  the  Republic, 
whether  from  foreign  enemies,  or  civil  war.  After  describ 
ing  the  long,  sad  course  of  events  which  led  to  the  civil 
war,  and  the  exigency  of  the  times  which  demanded  a 
peculiar  leader,  he  finds  in  the  parentage  and  training  of 
Governor  Buckingham,  the  man  raised  up  for  his  times  and 
work.  So  that  the  selection  of  him  had  as  much  of  a 
providence  in  it  as  his  training. 

To  lead  and  direct  a  people  thus  inspired,  William  A.  Buckingham 
was  specially  chosen.  In  his  faultless  character,  one  quality  stood 
out  strikingly— it  was  his  sublime  religious  faith.  It  pervaded  and 
energized  the  whole  man.  I  know  that  the  fervor  of  those  days  seems 
to  have  passed,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  may  seem  inappropriate 
to  dwell  on  this  controlling  element  in  Buckingham1*  character;  but 
truth  and  justice  demand  it.  Like  Washington  at  Valley  Forge,  he 
met  the  crisis  with  prayer,  and  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
trial  went  forward  with  a  calm  bearing  born  of  the  undoubting  faith 
that  he  was  but  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty 
to  do  His  will,  to  preserve  His  chosen  nation,  to  set  His  people  free. 
Who  shall  deny,  even  in  this  skeptical  day,  that  faith  alone  makes 
man  truly  great?  It  made  Buckingham  great;  and  we  shall  do  but 
partial  justice  to  his  memory,  or  his  ability,  if  we  do  not  recognize 
and  honor  this  noblest,  grandest  quality  of  the  man.  As  I  recall  his 
bearing  in  those  years  of  peril,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  he  combined  in 
character  the  stern  justice  of  Israel's  judge  and  the  rapt  spirit  of  the 
Hebrew  prophet.  His  God,  during  the  war,  was  the  God  of  the  Old 
Testament.  He  served  Jehovah,  the  Man  of  War.  The  army  of  the 
Union  was  the  army  of  the  Lord. 

I  may  not  dwell  on  the  four  long,  sad  years  of  bitter  strife  that 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  517 

followed.  I  must  repress  the  desire  to  recall  the  heroic  achievements 
of  the  sons  of  Connecticut  on  the  glorified  battle-fields  of  the  Union, 
lii  victory,  in  defeat,  in  camp,  in  prison,  in  life,  and  in  holy  death, 
they  were  true  to  their  State,  their  Country,  to  Freedom,  and  to  God. 
I  weave  no  chaplet  of  laurel  for  those  who  survive,  for  their  fellow- 
citizens  have  crowned  them  with  reverence.  I  lay  no  flower  garlands 
on  the  graves  of  the  slain,  for  we  cherish  in  our  hearts  to-day,  and 
forever,  the  men  who  died  to  save  our  country. 

Our  present  duty  is  to  set  forth  the  love  and  reverence  borne  by  a 
grateful  State  for  the  man  who,  by  his  position,  represented  and 
embodied  the  purpose,  devotion,  and  valor  of  all.  Through  the  varying 
fortunes  of  the  conflict  he  was  the  same  active,  faithful,  uncompro 
mising  patriot.  The  people  of  the  State  acknowledged  him  as  their 
lawful  head,  listened  to  his  advice  with  profound  respect,  obeyed  his 
orders  with  a  perfect  obedience,  reposed  in  him  a  loyal  confidence, 
and  learned  to  love  him  with  a  rare  love.  No  other  man  but  Trum- 
bull  ever  so  illustrated  the  rich  meaning  of  the  word  we  have  chosen 
to  designate  our  chief  magistrate — he  was  most  truly  and  emphati 
cally  our  Governor.  The  duties  of  his  office  were  arduous  and  trying; 
but  he  never  seemed  to  feel  weariness.  He  was  never  content  with 
the  formal  discharge  of  official  duty.  He  was  the  foremost  citizen, 
as  well  as  the  elected  ruler  of  the  State,  and  his  great  heart  gave 
character  to  his  public  acts.  '  At  the  outset  he  pledged  his  private 
fortune  for  the  equipment  and  arming  of  the  troops.  Whatever 
money  could  procure  for  their  comfort  and  enjoyment,  beyond  the 
things  authorized  by  the  State,  he  supplied  at  his  own  expense.  The 
sum  of  his  benefaction  will  never  be  told.  Benevolent  by  nature, 
his  Christian  experience  taught  him  that  he  was  God's  steward  and 
almoner,  and  he  gave  as  he  believed  God's  Spirit  prompted  him.  His 
gifts  gladdened  many  a  soldier  in  distress. 

Probably  not  one  of  the  War  Governors,  who  held  with  steady  hand 
the  helm  of  State  during  the  perilous  storm,  was  more  relied  on  by 
the  Presidewt  than  Buckingham.  Very  early  in  the  war,  foreseeing 
the  magnitude  of  the  contest,  he  addressed  the  President  a  letter 
setting  forth  his  views  on  the  situation.  Many  of  the  suggestions 
contained  in  that  letter  were  embodied  in  the  President's  message  to 
Congress  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861,  and  from  that  date  onward  Lincoln 
frequently  consulted  him.  It  is  related  of  the  President  that  being 
introduced  to  a  Connecticut  gentleman  during  the  war,  he  quickly 
and  impressively  said:  "Do  you  know  what  a  good  Governor  you 
have  got?"  To  another  he  said :  " The  Connecticut  regiments  give 
me  no  trouble;  Governor  Buckingham  always  sends  them  fully 
equipped  for  any  emergency." 

Well  might  the  President  rely  on  him.  The  country  contained  no 
truer  patriot,  no  safer  counselor.  There  may  have  been  greater  men, 


518  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

as  the  world  counts  greatness,  but  Buckingham,  by  his  pure  life,  by 
his  unselfish  loyalty,  by  his  intense  love  of  the  right,  by  his  singleness 
of  purpose,  by  his  trust  in  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  earned  his  right  to  a 
place  among  the  ''heroes  of  faith." 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  ceremonies  the  Capitol  was 
thronged,  as  it  had  been  before  they  began,  with  a  surging 
crowd,  eager  to  see  the  statue  of  their  War  Governor,  and 
to  recognize  the  flags  under  which  they  or  their  friends 
had  gone  forth  to  the  war.  The  impression  made  by  the 
statue  is  justly  given  in  the  accounts  of  the  unveiling.  It 
is  a  representation  of  the  Governor  in  a  sitting  position,  of 
heroic  size,  and  by  common  consent  a  good  likeness.  The 
artist,  in  representing  him  as  the  War  Governor,  has  very 
properly  and  successfully  given  him  the  stern  and  spirited 
expression  which  the  duties  of  his  office  would  inspire. 
And  while  some  at  first  sight  might  be  disappointed  in  not 
finding  the  kindly-spirited  and  gentle-mannered  man  they 
were  accustomed  to  meet  with  in  private,  reflection  satisfied 
them  that  such  a  modification  was  required  and  has  been 
successfully  made.  Perhaps  the  size  and  spirit  of  the 
statue  would  be  softened  to  advantage  if  seen  from  a  little 
greater  distance.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  a  noble  represen 
tation  of  the  man,  and  in  that  character  of  which  the  State 
may  well  be  proud.  Strangers  who  go  there  must  admire 
it,  especially  in  its  noble  building  and  impressive  surround 
ings.  Citizens  may  well  take  satisfaction  in  showing  it  to 
strangers,  and  if,  when  they  are  complimented  upon  the 
building  and  the  statue,  they  modestly  inform  us  that  they 
were  both  furnished  "  within  the  appropriation,'*  we  think 
none  the  less  of  their  taste  and  patriotism,  because  they 
have  been  combined  with  economy  and  integrity.  The 
papers  of  the  day  especially  represent  the  interest  of  the 
veterans  as  they  crowded  around  the  statue,  and  told  their 
wives  and  children  of  some  kindness  the  Governor  showed 
their  regiment,  or  pointed  out  the  faded  and  tattered  flag 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  519 

under  which  they  fought,  and  the  gilded  names  of  Roanoke 
Island,  Port  Hudson,  or  Fort  Fisher,  where  they  received 
their  wounds  and  won  their  promotion.* 

This,  let  it  be  remembered,  was  the  regiment  that  refused 
to  sign  a  petition  to  President  Lincoln  for  an  exchange, 
when  our  government  had  suspended  such  exchanges,  on  the 
ground  of  some  inequality  and  unfairness  it  was  seeking  to 
remedy.  They  refused  to  sign  such  a  petition  lest  it  might 
"  embarrass  the  government  in  its  dealings  with  the  Rebel 
lion."  («  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  Chap.  XXXII.) 

Another  incident  occurred  at  the  close  of  those  cere 
monies,  which  illustrates  the  Governor's  regard  for  the  mass 
of  the  people,  their  freedom  of  access  to  him,  and  their 
attachment  to  him.  An  old  man  came  and  wished  to  speak 
with  the  Governor's  daughter.  "  You  remember,"  he  said, 
"  that  when  your  father  was  first  Governor,  he  used  to  ride 
a  beautiful  parade  horse  called  the  <  Pathfinder.'  That  was 
my  horse,  and  after  his  second  or  'third  election,  I  came 
into  the  city  and  went  to  the  State  House  to  tell  him  I  was 
glad  he  was  chosen  again."  "  0  yes,"  his  daughter  said, 
"  we  all  remember  that  beautiful  horse,  and  how  he  enjoyed 
riding  it."  " '  Well,'  said  your  father,  <  I  suppose  I  can 
have  your  "  Pathfinder  "  again.'  c  No,'  I  told  him, '  u  Path 
finder"  is  dead.'  '  What?'  said  he.  'Then  I  don't  see 
how  I  am  to  be  Governor,'  laying  his  hand  on  my  knee." 
And  the  tears  ran  down  the  old  man's  face,  as  much  out  of 

*  The  writer  remembers,  in  visiting  the  Capitol  with  his  grandsons,  and  pointing 
out  the  flag  of  the  Sixteenth  Regiment  (the  unfortunate  one  with  its  AmU  rsonville 
t  xperience,  whose  fresh  new  flag  bore  on  it  a  little  shield  made  up  of  bits  of  the 
old  one,  which  the  men  tore  in  pieces  and  concealed  about  their  persons  when 
they  were  captured),  that  an  old  soldier  came  up  and  said  of  another  standard  by 
its  side, 4k  This  is  my  flag."  We  did  not  need  to  ask  him  how  he  had  fared  under 
it,  for  his  arm  was  gone  at  the  shoulder.  Soon  another  joined  him  and  said 
that  the  next  standard  was  the  one  he  fought  under,  and  being  asked  if  he  had 
escaped  all  injury,  he  showed  a  wooden  leg.  Then  came  a  third,  saying :  "  The 
Sixteenth  was  my  regiment."  And  when  we  said :  "  Well,  my  friend,  you  seem  to 
have  fared  better  than  your  comrades  ;  "  "  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied,  "  but  we  all  lived 
on  the  same  rich  soup  in  prison."  And  these  are  scenes  that  will  be  repeated  as 
long  as  there  are  veterans  to  tell  of  such  things,  or  they  have  descendants  to 
rehearse  such  pathetic  stories. 


520  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

regret  at  disappointing  his  friend   as  at  the  loss  of   his 
favorite  horse. 

Thus  the  people  of  Connecticut  have  enshrined  in  their 
Capitol  building  to  immortality,  so  far  as  marble  and  bronze 
can  do  it,  the  most  precious  and  suggestive  memorials  of 
their  late  war.  And  whatever  may  befall  them  in  the 
convulsions  of  nature,  or  the  revolution  of  empires,  they 
transmit  them  still  more  imperishably  to  the  pages  of  his 
tory,  which  must  remain  so  long  as  there  shall  be  any 
human  beings  here  to  read  them,  and  human  history  to  be 
read.  Parents  will  tell  of  such  things  to  their  children, 
and  children's  children  will  repeat  the  story  to  their  chil 
dren.  Posterity  will  read  of  such  deeds  done  by  their  an 
cestors,  and  as  they  read  the  same  blocd  will  be  stirred 
in  their  veins,  and  they  be  roused  to  equal  heroism  when  it 
is  called  for. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

A   Reminder  of  What  They   Have  Been— What  Made  Them  What 
They  are— The  Character  They  Have  to  Maintain. 

An  organist  hardly  feels  that  his  musical  service  is  com 
plete,  without  a  suitable  postlude  to  his  performance,  as 
well  as  a  prelude.  And  as  the  author  of  this  memoir  has 
had  as  much  regard  for  you  in  this  work,  as  for  your  Gov 
ernor,  he  takes  the  liberty  of  calling  attention  to  certain  of 
your  characteristics  as  a  people,  which  stood  you  in  good 
stead  in  all  the  crises  of  the  war ;  to  certain  influences  and 
events  in  your  earlier  history  to  which  you  owe  such  charac 
teristics,  and  to  what  should  be  the  benefits  of  some  of  your 
recent  history  to  your  State  and  to  posterity. 

To  the  Southerner,  all  New  Englanders  were  Yankees  in 
the  most  objectionable  meaning  of  the  term.  But  the  Con 
necticut  Yankee  was  a  peculiar  species  of  the  class,  bright, 
sharp  for  business,  loving  money  and  never  spending  it 
except  to  make  more.  There  was  something  nasal  about 
his  voice,  and  awkward  about  his  manners,  and  he  had  no 
fine  qualities  of  blood  and  breeding.  In  older  times  when 
men  in  public  life  were  not  so  sectional  or  partisan,  and 
personal  friendships  were  formed  stronger  than  afterwards, 
we  used  to  hear  of  the  pleasantries  that  passed  between 
Southerners  and  Northerners ;  like  that  of  the  one  who  saw 
a  drove  of  mules  going  by  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  and 
called  his  brother  Senator  to  the  window  to  see  a  company 
of  his  constituents,  and  the  reply  was,  "  Yes,  they  are 
going  South  to  teach  school."  Down  to  the  very  opening 
of  the  war,  when  a  Southern  mother,  standing  with  her  boy 


OZ2  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

before  Washington's  noble  statue  at  Richmond,  was  heard 
teaching  him :  "  There,  my  son,  you  see  Washington  is 
turning  his  back  upon  the  North,  and  only  looks  with  satis 
faction  and  blessing  upon  the  South ; "  the  South  had  this 
low  opinion  of  you,  and  instilled  it  into  their  children. 

But  how  unjust  this  opinion  was  your  history  had  shown, 
and  your  coming  action  was  to  do  away  with  it  forever. 
Your  country  was  a  rough  one,  and  your  climate  vigorous 
for  half  the  year,  so  that  industry  and  economy  had  to  be 
considered  prime  virtues.  You  had  to  do  your  own  work, 
or  pay  for  it  when  done  by  others.  But  you  knew  how  to 
accumulate  your  gains,  and  use  them  as  capital  for  larger 
enterprises ;  you  made  your  water  power  drive  your  ma 
chinery,  and  by  invention  improved  your  machinery  and 
methods  of  business  until  you  could  not  only  bring  cotton 
from  the  South  and  return  it  in  clothing  to  advantage,  but 
export  it  also  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  you  utilized  the  very 
ice  of  your  ponds  as  well  as  the  timber  of  your  forests  and 
the  clay  of  your  valleys,  together  with  the  granite  from 
your  hills,  to  furnish  yourselves  and  others  with  the  com 
forts  and  benefits  of  a  higher  civilization. 

You  knew  the  value  of  education  and  Christianity  also. 
You  would  not  incorporate  towns  even  on  the  outposts  of 
civilization,  unless  they  would  provide  schools  and  churches 
with  an  educated  ministry.  You  must  have  your  colleges 
almost  from  the  first,  and  sent  your  contributions  to  Harvard 
until  you  could  support  one  of  your  own.  And  when  those 
twelve  ministers  (with  little  more  than  their  piety,  and  a 
few  books)  founded  the  one  which  has  since  grown  into 
your  noble  University,  with  its  various  departments  of 
literature,  theology,  philosophy,  natural  science,  sociology, 
law  and  medicine,  where  so  many  of  the  statesmen  and 
professional  men  and  scientists  of  the  land  have  been 
trained  for  the  last  two  centuries,  it  is  proof  that  you  have 
always  valued  other  things  than  money,  and  have  labored 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  523 

as  hard  to  secure  the  former  as  the  latter.  Your  common 
schools,  free  to  all,  have  been  cheerfully  sustained  by  those 
who  have  had  anything  to  be  taxed,  whether  they  had  any 
children  or  not.  Your  State,  if  we  mistake  not,  was  the 
first  to  set  apart  a  school  fund  of  $2,000,000  for  this  pur 
pose.  And  the  result  has  been,  that  it  is  rare  to  find  one 
of  your  native  population  who  cannot  read  and  write,-— read 
the  newspapers  and  books,  and  write  an  intelligible  letter, 
and  affix  his  signature  to  his  own  will. 

You  have  been  learning,  too,  the  best  use  of  property. 
When  so  many  are  giving  liberally  out  of  their  competency 
or  their  wealth,  and  many  more  out  of  straitened  means  or 
even  poverty,  to  whatever  will  promote  the  public  good,  the 
relief  of  distress,  the  elevation  of  the  oppressed,  the  promo 
tion  of  better  morals,  the  most  thorough  Christianization 
of  this  country,  and  the  evangelization  of  the  whole  world, 
who  can  say  that  this  is  not  the  greatest  and  best  attain 
ment  that  can  be  made  in  this  age  of  progress  ?  When  we 
think  of  the  possibilities  that  are  open  to  us  in  this  direc 
tion  ; — in  the  intellectuality  and  education  of  the  people, 
which  would  put  the  wealth  of  science  more  fully  into  our 
possession,  the  skill  of  trained  artisanship,  the  resources  of 
invention,  the  treasures  of  history  and  the  refinements  of 
art ;  when  moral  and  religious  culture  shall  have  saved  us 
from  the  exhaustless  waste  of  vice  and  fraud,  to  say  nothing 
of  needless  incompetency  and  reckless  mismanagement  in 
business,  and  especially  when  there  shall  be  enough  of  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  in  the  community  to  make  us  "  fear 
God  and  keep  his  commandments,"  "  love  our  neighbor  as 
we  love  ourselves,"  seek  "  another's  wealth,"  as  well  as  our 
own,  be  "  kind  one  to  another,  tender  hearted,  forgiving  one 
another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  us ;  "- 
what  mines  of  wealth,  priceless  in  value  and  limitless  in 
extent,  are  found  all  around  us,  if  they  were  only  developed ! 

There  could  hardly  be  a  better  illustration  of  this  subject, 


524  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

or  one  more  honorable  to  you,  than  the  two  gifts  from  your 
State  of  a  million  each,  for  the  education  and  religious 
improvement  of  the  colored  people  of  the  South,  the  Slater 
fund  and  the  Hand  fund,  the  only  gifts  for  the  same  pur 
pose  arid  of  equal  amount  that  have  come  from  any  quarter. 
The  Peabody  fund  is  a  noble  charity,  but  that  is  for  the 
white  population  especially,  while  these  are  for  the  Preed- 
men,  the  most  needy  and  depressed,  and  are  absolutely 
necessary  to  qualify  them  for  the  citizenship  which  has 
been  conferred  upon  them,  and  which  they  are  not  yet 
capable  of  exercising.  This  is  the  supreme  wisdom  of  such 
a  charity,  and  as  full  of  benevolence  to  the  whole  country 
as  it  is  to  the  South. 

Your  generous  use  of  money  also  for  carrying  on  the 
war,  the  way  in  which  individuals  pledged  their  fortunes, 
the  banks  offered  loans,  the  towns  taxed  themselves  to 
raise  volunteers  and  support  their  families,  the  Legislature 
appropriated  -14,000,000  to  raise  and  equip  troops,  and  the 
State  loaned  its  credit  to  aid  the  general  government,  ought 
to  stifle  forever  the  ancient  reproach  that  you  were  a  mer 
cenary  and  mean-spirited  people.* 

But  more  than  all,  you  gave  yourselves,  as  well  as  your 
money,  to  the  cause  of  your  country,  and  herein  showed 
your  truest  patriotism.  Pew  shrank  from  enlistment  who 
were  fit  for  military  service  and  could  be  spared  from 
duties  at  home,  and  as  the  state  of  things  became  more 
critical,  instead  of  sending  substitutes,  your  citizens  felt 
under  greater  obligation  to  go  into  the  field  themselves,  so 
that  the  most  independent  in  their  circumstances  and  the 


*  Nor  should  it  ever  bo  forgotten  to  your  credit  that  it  was  a  citizen  of  your 
State,  Hon.  C.  S.  Bushnell  of  New  Haven,  who  himself  and  his  friends  advanced 
the  money  which  enabled  Ericsson  to  build  his  Monitor,  saved  our  navy  in  its 
greatest  peril,  and  revolutionized  tho  system  of  naval  shipbuilding  throughout 
the  world.  Our  naval  department  saw  nothing  promising  in  such  a  war  vessel  and 
the  government  had  no  spare  funds  to  risk  upon  such  an  experiment,  but  this 
private  citizeu  of  yours,  virtually  at  his  own  risk  and  expense,  saved  the  nation 
from  disaster,  and  made  this  contribution  to  the  defense  of  every  nation. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  525 

ablest  in  every  profession  and  position  were  to  be  found  in 
our  army.  There  was  a  private  in  one  of  the  Connecticut 
regiments  we  know,  who,  when  the  government  was  largely 
in  arrears  to  them,  drew  his  check  for  the  back  pay  of  the 
whole  regiment.  And  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  which 
was  ridiculed  abroad,  that  he  could  have  filled  every  office 
in  his  cabinet  from  more  than  one  single  regiment  in  the 
service,  was  justified.  You  sent  50,000  men  into  ths  field 
out  of  a  population  of  less  than  half  a  million,  or  more 
than  one  to  every  ten  inhabitants,  counting  men,  women 
and  children.  Your  State  never  had  to  submit  to  a  draft 
to  furnish  your  quota,  but  had  a  surplus  of  6,000  to  her 
credit  when  the  war  was  over.  The  honor  your  volunteers 
did  themselves  and  your  State,  on  land  and  sea,  in  cam 
paigns  like  McClellan's,  on  the  battlefields  of  the  Wilder 
ness,  Antietam  and  Gettysburg ;  the  high  rank  in  the  army 
to  which  so  many  of  them  attained,  largely  from  civil  life  ; 
the  illustrious  dead,  so  many  of  whom  sleep  in  your  village 
burying  grounds,  the  constant  shrine  of  love  and  flowers  ; 
and  so  many  more  who  rest  in  unknown  graves,  and  just 
outside,  perhaps,  of  some  prison  pen,  where  unassuaged 
grief  can  never  make  any  expression  of  affection  for  them, 
or  of  its  admiration  of  the  sacrifice  they  made  for  others, — 
these  are  matters  of  truthful  and  eternal  history,  and  they  tell 
whether  you  have  any  patriotism,  or  self-sacrifice,  or  nobility. 
What  is  nobility  in  its  truest  sense  ?  Is  it  to  have  some 
royal  blood  in  your  veins,  like  that  of  Charles  the  First,  or 
trace  your  descent  to  some  titled  ancestor,  like  his  Attorney 
General,  who  prosecuted  all  the  patriots  in  his  Parliament 
for  high  treason  ?  Or  would  you  rather  find  yourself 
descended  from  one  of  those  patriots,  Hampden  or  Sir 
Henry  Vane,  characters  whom  all  respect,  and  whose 
services  will  be  appreciated  as  long  as  personal  rights  are 
cherished  and  unjust  taxation  opposed  ?  Would  you 
rather  inherit  the  faith  of  the  Reformers,  who  sloughed  off 


526  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

from  the  church  the  corruptions  of  the  middle  ages,  or 
possess  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  Pilgrims,  who  would  plant 
a  pure  church  and  a  Christian  commonwealth  in  this  wilder 
ness,  or  have  given  your  money,  or  risked  your  life,  or 
surrendered  your  best  friends  to  either  prison  or  death,  to 
save  that  church  from  injury,  this  commonwealth  from 
overthrow  ?  Then  we  can  assure  you  that  your  patent  of 
nobility  will  stand  quite  as  high  in  the  court  of  heaven, 
and  in  the  best  judgment  of  mankind,  as  if  you  could  trace 
your  descent  from  ever  so  many  royal  families  and  the 
highest  titled  estates. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  noble  parentage  and  honorable 
heredity,  which  should  be  respected  and  cherished,  whether 
the  chain  of  connection  be  one  of  birth  and  blood,  or  only 
of  spirit  and  similar  character.  We  are  proud  of  our 
Protestant  ancestry,  our  Cromwellian  spirit,  especially  if  we 
bear  the  name  of  one  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  or 
who  was  an  important  settler  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  or  a 
planter  of  either  the  Hartford  or  the  New  Haven  colony. 
And  we  have  reason  to  feel  so,  for  there  are  few  influences 
more  ennobling  than  to  wear  an  honored  name,  and  be 
always  striving  to  do  it  credit.  Happily  for  us,  the  great 
names  of  history  were  apt  to  have  some  strong  character 
istics  behind  them,  and  not  infrequently  some  noble  virtue 
and  rare  achievement  in  a  rude  age.  When  these  quali 
ties  and  such  a  spirit  have  characterized  for  generations  a 
family  or  a  people,  like  the  Scotch  Covenanters,  the  French 
Huguenots,  or  the  New  England  Puritans,  it  is  neither 
affectation  nor  folly  to  prize  such  historic  associations  and 
yield  to  their  influence.  For  they  bind  us  to  the  past,  and  put 
us  under  bonds  to  the  future.  Happy  is  the  people  whose 
ancestry  can  be  thus  honored  and  their  example  imitated.* 


*  If  any  one  is  desirous  of  knowing  how  much  noble  blood  was  brought  over  to 
New  England  in  its  early  settlement,  he  will  be  interested  to  refer  to  such  a  work 
as  Chancellor  Walworth's  "Genealogy  of  the  Hyde  Family."  The  question  had 
been  raised  as  to  the  birthplace  and  family  of  Jeremiah  Mason,  the  great  Bos' on 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  527 

Your  characteristics  have  been  largely  the  result  of  such 
parentage  and  history. 

Our  New  England  settlers  are  well  known  to  have  gener 
ally  come  from  the  best  English  middle  classes,  the  land 
owners  and  country  squires,  and  some  thrifty  merchants, 
like  the  planters  of  the  New  Haven  colony,  with  a  large 
percentage  of  university  men,  like  our  ministers  and  magis 
trates.  They  brought  with  them  their  Protestant  faith  in 
its  purity  and  simplicity,  and  their  ideas  of  religious  and 
civil  liberty,  and  the  conviction  that  men  could  govern 
themselves  in  the  State  as  they  were  doing  in  the  churches, 
without  either  king  or  pope.  They  made  it  a  religious  duty 
not  only  to  maintain  liberty,  but  also  to  support  civil  govern 
ment.  They  recognized  "  the  powers  that  be,"  or  established 
governments,  "  as  ordained  of  God,"  and  to  be  maintained, 
while  they  demanded  just  and  equal  and  useful  legislation. 
And  these  duties  were  enforced,  not  merely  for  social  safety 
and  from  economic  considerations,  but  by  all  the  motives 
and  obligations  of  Christianity.  They  were  taught  from 
the  pulpit  their  duties  to  the  government,  as  well  as  to  God 
and  their  fellow-men,  until  they  knew  what  good  govern 
ment  was,  and  that  both  duty  to  God  and  to  men  required 


lawyer,  the  contemporary  of  Daniel  Webster  and  quite  his  equal  as  a  lawyer.  He 
was  born  in  Lebanon,  the  birthplace  of  the  Trumbulls  and  of  Governor  Bucking 
ham.  His  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Captain  John  Mason  of  Pequot  fame,  who 
received  a  considerable  part  of  that  township  in  repayment  of  his  public  service  at 
that  critical  period  of  our  history.  In  the  pursuit  of  those  inquiries,  the  lineage  of 
this  decendant  is  traced  back  step  by  step  and  with  th )  highest  authorities  for  its 
correctness,  to  William  the  Conqueror,  and  Matilda  of  Scotland,  and  Alfred  the 
Great,  and  several  other  Anglo-Saxon  kings.  And  not  only  so,  but  he  sprang  also 
from  Louis  the  Fair  of  France,  and  from  Charlemagne,  the  great  Emperor  of  the 
West.  So  that  with  that  family  alone,  came  blue  blood  enough  into  New  England 
to  stock  a  kingdom. 

There  was  another  personage  also  among  our  first  settlers,  Elizabeth  St.  John, 
wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  Whiting,  first  minister  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  who  brought  over  a 
richer  inheritance  of  noble  character  as  well  as  of  high  rank,  than  probably  any 
other,  and  her  blood  is  so  well  scattered  among  our  most  familiar  names,  that 
nobody  need  feel  surprised  to  find  himself  belonging  to  the  "first  families,"  and 
if  his  character  justifies  a  nobler  descent  than  that  of  mere  blood,  few  will  call  in 
question  his  claim  to  any  rank.— [u  Genealogy  of  the  Hyde  Family,"  by  Chancellor 
Walworth,  Vol.  II,  p.  920. 


528  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

that  they  should  have  it.  So  they  were  no  reckless  an 
archists,  nor  shallow  socialists,  but  the  best  possible 
material  for  self-government.  It  was  by  one  of  your  pas 
tors  (Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  of  Hartford)  that  the  plan  of 
your  State  government  and  of  the  general  government  was 
virtually  outlined  at  first.  Yours  also  was  the  only  colony 
which  had  a  charter  that  gave  the  right  to  choose  your  own 
governor,  while  the  rest  had  such  appointments  from  the 
crown,  and  as  a  consequence,  Governor  Trumbull  was  the 
only  patriot  among  them  when  the  rest  proved  "  Tories." 
And  that  right  you  deemed  so  sacred  that  when  the  charter 
which  gave  it  was  demanded  of  you,  you  refused  to  give  it 
up,  and  hid  it  in  the  famous  "  Charter  Oak,"  the  likeness 
of  which  is  carved  over  the  entrance  to  your  Capitol,  to  be 
cherished  as  the  guardian  of  your  liberties.  This  is  what 
made  your  State  so  patriotic  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
Governor  Trumbull  such  a  leader  in  it,  and  made  it  so  easy 
for  you  and  your  War  Governor  of  the  Rebellion  to  imitate 
such  noble  examples. 

Such  have  always  been  the  influences  which  have  molded 
communities  and  nations,  and  have  been  more  potent  than 
location  and  circumstances,  or  even  race  and  heredity.  They 
have  made  Great  Britain  what  she  is,  on  her  little  island, 
and  with  her  world-wide  enterprise.  They  have  made 
France  and  Germany  and  Russia  what  they  are,  as  their 
peculiar  ideas  have  been  incorporated  into  their  institu 
tions,  and  illustrated  by  their  history.  And  so  it  will  be 
essentially  to  the  end  of  time.  Nations  may  be  swept 
away  from  even  strong  foundations,  as  the  Roman  Empire 
was  from  her  fine  organization  of  government  and  noble 
system  of  civil  law.  But  such  institutions  and  influences 
are  the  best  security  against  national  ruin,  as  yet  discovered, 
especially  when  truth,  justice  and  benevolence  underlie  them, 
and  Christianity  holds  a  people  under  its  individual  and 
almost  omnipotent  control. 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  529 

It  is  such  history  of  your  worthy  deeds  and  such  memo 
rials  of  them  which  are  to  perpetuate  your  noblest  charac 
teristics.  We  know  how  nations  may  be  sometimes  swept 
away  from  the  best  foundations  and  rush  into  a  wicked 
war,  like  ours  with  Mexico,  for  the  extension  of  slave  terri 
tory  ;  or  oppress  some  particular  classes  and  deny  them 
their  simplest  rights,  as  we  did  so  long  to  the  slave  and  the 
Indian ;  or  corrupt  politics  by  buying  votes  and  counting 
them  fraudulently,  and  rewarding  party  services  with  the 
spoils  of  office,  as  we  have  seen  so  often  done.  We  know 
how  wealth  has  been  found  controlling  legislation  or  party 
politics,  putting  judges  on  the  bench  on  purpose  to  defeat 
good  laws,  and  defying  public  sentiment  because  it  had  the 
power  to  do  so,  as  we  have  also  seen  to  our  grief  and  almost 
despair.  We  have  seen  the  great  metropolis  of  this  nation 
administering  its  city  government  to  enrich  its  office  holders, 
and  subjecting  the  community  to  the  heaviest  taxation  for 
such  a  purpose,  and  contemptuously  answering  back  to 
therr  complaints :  "What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 
when  there  seemed  no  possible  remedy.  But  you  know  as 
well,  that  an  unjust  though  successful  war  and  ample  slave 
territory  could  not  fasten  upon  us  forever,  slavery  and  the 
slave  trade.  You  know,  too,  the  poor  Indian,  long  ago  des 
tined  to  extermination,  has  escaped  it,  and  is  acquiring  the 
rights  of  property  and  citizenship,  the  benefits  of  education 
and  Christianity,  in  spite  of  everything.  And  have  you 
not  seen,  also,  the  most  corrupt  legislation  and  the  worst 
politics  driven  out  from  the  halls  of  Congress,  the  Legisla 
tures  of  the  States,  and  from  the  proudest  metropolis  by 
the  revolt  of  public  sentiment  against  such  corruption  ? 
Those  who  defied  public  sentiment  so  arrogantly,  have  you 
not  seen  such  criminals  dying  in  prison  and  fleeing  into 
exile,  poor  and  friendless,  "  fugitives  and  vagabonds  in  the 
earth  ? "  These  are  influences  which  lie  back  of  force  and 
back  of  votes  even,  and  can  re-enforce  both  as  nothing  else 


630  WILLIAM   A.     BUCKINGHAM. 

can,  and  which  any  rightly  disposed  community  under  our 
system  of  free  voting  can  use  with  resistless  power  against 
any  sort  of  corruption.  These  are  moral  influences  which 
are  mightier  than  force  or  fraud,  and  though  we  may  some 
times  be  overborne  by  the  latter  and  somebody  have  to 
suffer  martyrdom,  we  expect  in  the  end  to  conquer.  Truth 
and  righteousness  and  humanity  are  mightier  than  falsehood 
and  fraud  and  oppression.  And  God  himself  is  always  on 
that  side,  though  he  does  not  immediately  vindicate  the 
right,  but  will  in  the  end.  Wickedness  is  folly  as  well  as 
crime,  and  as  the  Scriptures  say,  it  is  "  the  fool  who  hath 
said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God."  Those  who  undervalue 
these  forces  of  the  universe  are  sure  to  be  mistaken  and 
must  make  a  failure  in  their  plans,  when  it  is  the  "  right 
eous  eventually  who  shall  inherit  the  land." 

This  is  the  lesson  you  have  been  taught  by  your  late  his 
tory.  When  no  one  else  cheered  you  on  in  that  great 
struggle,  save  the  old  statesman  of  Huguenot  descent  who 
saw  in  it  the  "  Uprising  of  a  Great  People,"  and  foretold  your 
success  because  your  cause  was  based  upon  inherent  righteous 
ness  and  humanity  and  the  favor  of  heaven ;  when  you 
took  little  account  of  mere  probabilities  of  success,  and  only 
knew  what  you  must  do  and  would  do  to  be  worthy  sons  of 
your  sires,  and  preserve  the  government  upon  which  the 
best  institutions  of  society  depend  and  can  only  be  furnished 
to  other  lands  ;  when  you  counted  this  as  your  highest  duty 
and  cared  no  more  for  what  it  cost,  whether  of  comfort,  or 
property,  or  life  itself,  than  the  early  martyrs  did,  it  made 
such  patriotism  come  near  to  martyrdom  itself.  We  have 
often  wondered,  if  an  age  of  persecution  should  return  to 
the  church,  whether  martyrs  would  offer  themselves  again 
as  freely  as  in  those  early  times.  But  when  we  saw  the 
choicest  of  our  youth  and  maturest  of  our  citizens  volun 
teering  for  the  service  more  freely  than  adventurers,  we 
knew  Christianity  was  safe  even  in  charge  of  the  imperfect 


WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM.  531 

people  who  represent  it.  If  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is 
the  seed  of  the  church,"  so  will  the  dust  of  patriots  breed 
heroes  anywhere,  especially  when  men  have  been  reared 
under  such  a  parentage  and  such  history  as  yours. 

Still  more  confidently  is  this  to  be  expected  when  the 
world  is  evidently  coming  faster  under  the  higher  influences 
of  civilization  and  the  purer  influences  of  Christianity. 
The  night  has  been  long  and  dismal,  but  the  morning  is 
promised  and  in  places  is  already  tinging  the  horizon,  and 
will  tip  the  mountain  tops  and  penetrate  the  valleys,  until, 
as  Longfellow  has  said:  "It's  morning  everywhere!" 
There  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  that  the  next  cen 
tury  is  likely  to  bring  with  it  improvements  in  the  condition 
of  mankind,  such  as  have  never  been  known  before. 
Whether  this  hope  is  born  of  the  need  of  it,  or  of  the 
countless  experimental  work  that  is  being  done  for  every 
class  and  condition  of  men,  and  the  world-wide  enthusiasm 
which  beats  in  so  many  hearts  to  benefit  somebody — like 
the  strong  expectation  of  the  world's  Messiah  when  he 
came — it  is  a  distinct  expectation  and  strong  hope  that 
light  up  our  future.  Most  of  us  who  have  reached  a  good 
old  age  and  experienced  all  the  vicissitudes  and  anxieties 
of  life,  might  hardly  wish  to  live  far  into  the  new  century, 
but  we  should  be  glad  if  we  could  sec  through  the  eyes  of 
our  children's  children  some  of  the  glory  that  is  coming. 
But  it  is  not  so  much  along  the  lines  of  material  wealth 
and  development,  great  as  this  must  be,  that  we  look  for 
the  greatest  improvement,  but  in  better  characters,  better 
lives,  better  families,  better  governments,  in  all  that  is 
meant  by  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon 
this  earth.  When  the  aged  and  beloved  apostle  looked  out 
from  his  imprisonment  upon  Patmos  over  the  boundless 
sea  and  up  into  the  infinite  heavens,  where  his  Master  was 
upon  the  throne,  he  saw  "  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
and  its  capital  the  holy  city,  the  New  Jerusalem  coming 


532  WILLIAM    A.    BUCKINGHAM. 

down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned 
for  her  husband."  It  satisfied  his  heart,  realized  all  his 
hopes,  and  content  to  lay  down  his  work,  he  responded  to 
his  Lord's  assurance  :  u  Surely  I  come  quickly."  "  Even 
so  come,  Lord  Jesus." 


'CONNECTICUT 

o 


HIS°C©URA@E«WAS°  DAUNTLESS 


HIIS«FA1TH«IN«<5©D«'AB§®LUT1 


INSCRIPTION 'ON  THE  GOVERNOR'S  MONUMENT. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX 


AIKEN,  William  A.,  144. 

Alabama  Claims,  439-445. 

Alabama,  interview  with  builder  of 

445-448 

Appomattox.  surrender  at,  388-393 
Armies,  condition  of  307,  308. 
Arms  for  the  South,  124. 
Army  and  Navy  di  organized  at  open 
ing  of  the  war,  160. 
Army  of   the  Potomac,  216   217   221 

223,  313,  330. 

Assassination  of  Lincoln. 
The  plot,  403. 
Its  execution,  404,  405. 
Punishment  for,  405. 
Atlanta,  capture  of.  350. 

BALDWIN,  ROGER  S.,  79.  88,  90 
Baltimore. 

Attack    on    Massachusetts    reei- 

ment,  144. 

Bancroft.  George,  261. 
Banks  offer  money  for  the  war  129 
Bates,  Edward,  109. 
Battell,  Kobbins,  79. 
Battle    Flags   in   Connecticut    State 

Capitol,  509. 

Battles,  described  or  specially  men 
tioned. 

Antietam,  308. 
Bentonville,  377. 
Bull  Run,  172,  177. 
Chattanooga.  312-318. 
Cliickahominy,  232. 
Five  Forks,  384-386. 
Georgia  campaign,  342-359 
Gettysburg,  268,  270,  308. 
Glendale,  2b9. 

Grant's  flank  movements,  333-336 
Malvern  Hill,  241. 
Mechanicsvi  le,  230. 
Mobile  Bay,  370-374. 
Vicbsburg,  268,270. 
"Wilderness  331-336. 
Bissell,  George  P.,  252. 
Blair,  Montgomery,  109. 
Booth,  Wiikes,  403-405. 
Border  States,  123. 
Bounties  for  enlistment,  251. 
Boyd,  John,  132. 
Brandegee,  Augustus,  157. 
Breckinridge  John  C.,  60. 
Brewster,  James,  137. 
Buchanan,  Robert. 

His  administration  and  its  failure 

40. 

His  character,  41,  42,  107. 
Message  to  congress  in  the  autumn 

of  1859,  44. 
Justifies  demolition  of  the  Union, 

64. 

His  cabinet  divided.  65. 
His  opinion  of  Lincoln's  inaugural, 


Buckingham. 

The  family  in  this  country,  1-3 
Joanna  (Matson),  10-12. 
Samuel.  3,  7,  8. 

Rev.    Thomas,  colonist,   minister 
and  one  of   the  founders    of 
Yale  College,  1.  2. 
"Buckingham  Day,"  50r,  520 
Buckingham  Rifles,  134 
Buckingham  statue,  507 
Buckingham,  William  A. 
Birth,  3. 

Home  and  training,  4-16. 
Early  occupations   and    business 

life,  15,16. 
Elections  aa  governor    32    37    50 

128,  209,  380,  430 

Messages,  34, 38, 52.  154, 17!),  211, 361. 
.friendship  with  Abraham  Lincoln, 

Gubernatorial  canvass  of  1860,  48, 

53. 
Instructions  to  members  of  Peace 

Convention.  79. 
First  cail  for  volunteers,  128 
Pledges    his   private    fortune    to 

equip  soldiers,  130. 
His  early  estimate  of  the  great 
ness  of  the  war,  131. 
Buys  arms  and  equipments  on  his 

own  responsibility,  141. 
Assures  President  Lincoln  that  the 

North  will  support  him,  144. 
His  letter  offering  the  president 

S2.000.000  and  10,000  men,  158. 
Offers  more  troops,  159. 
Letters  to  Simon  Cameron,  May  18 

and  July  26,  1861,  163  164 
Letter  to  General  Daniel  Tyler,  165 
Appeal  to  the  president  to  increase 

the  army,  166. 

His  promise  that  no  state   shall 
furnish  more  or  better  troops 
than  Connecticut,  164,  431. 
Proclamation  callitjg  for  loyal  sup 
port  of  the  government,  184. 
Conferences  with   the  president, 

188. 
Assures  the  people  of  their  ability 

to  mtet  all  demands,  212. 
Order  issued  after  Peninsular  cam 
paign.  249. 
Letter  to  the  president  on  slavery, 

263. 
Call   for   volunteers  to   suppress 

possible  draft  riots,  280. 
Reply  to  criticism   of   action   iu 
preparation  for  draft  riots,  281 . 
Appointment  of  officers  from  civil 

life,  291. 
His  care  for  soldiers,  293,  296  301 

302.  303,  305. 
Reception  of  returning  volunteers, 


534 


ALPHABETICAL     INPKX. 


Fao-simile   of   letter   announcing 
the  fall  of  Richmond,  419. 

Urges    ratification   of    the   Thir 
teenth  Amendment,  435. 

Interview  with  the  builder  of  the 
Alabama,  445-448. 

Elected  United  States  senator,  452. 

Family  life,  452,  453. 

Life  as  senator,  454-461. 

Bis  committees,  458-460. 

His  death  at  Norwich,  461. 

Tributes  from  ihe  press  462-472. 

His  funeral  at  Norwich,  472-475. 

Utterances  of  public  men  as  to  his 
life  and  service,  475-493. 

Personal  traits,  494. 

Qualifications  for  his  work.  503. 

Moderator  of  First  Congregational 

Council,  496,  502. 
Bull  Run,  172,  177,  183. 
Burnharn,  George  S.,  133,  134. 
Butler,  B.  P.,  181,  265. 

CAMERON.  SIMON,  109. 

Carnps  of  instruction,  136,  290. 

Catlin,  Julius,  141. 

Chase.  Salmon  P..  109. 

Chattanooga,  capture  of,  312-318. 

Chickahominy,  226. 

Christian  Commission,  297,  298. 

Civil  an<1  mili  ary  power,  34 

Clark,  David,  137. 

Cleveland,  Ch^uncey  F.,  79,  135. 

Colt,  Samuel,  H4,  162. 

Confederate  finances.  271. 

Confederate  troops. 

Demoralized,  357. 

Distress  at  time  of  surrender,  387. 
Congregational  council  at  Boston,  496. 
Congress. 

Extra  session  July  4,  1861,  123,  173. 

Authorized  call  for  500,000  addi 
tional  troops,  166. 
Connecticut. 

People  of,  522-528 

Its  first  regiment,  161,  290,  291. 

Its  credit  lent  to  the  general  gov 
ernment,  171,  289. 

Its    contribution   in   troops    and 
money  to  the  war,  431. 

Suffered  no  draft,  255. 
Connecticut  Legislature. 

Indorses  the  governor's  action  as 
to  volunteers,  143. 

Session  of  1861.  154. 

Crittenden  compromises,  184. 

Resolutions  after  the  Peninsular 
campaign,  210. 

Not  a  single  disloyal  member,  274. 

Action  as  to  soldiers'  votes,  362. 
Connecticut  Volunteers. 

Those  first  sent,  182,  183,  194,  195, 
197. 

Regiments  at  Bull  Run,  192. 
Commissioned    officers     from     these 
three  regiments,  185. 

Three-months'    and    three-years' 
men,  162. 

Their  patriotic  impulse,  186. 

Training  camps,  187. 

Officers  from  civil  life,  291. 

Men  who  became  generals,  292. 


The  attention  volunteers  received 

from  the  governor,  293,  296. 
Provision  for  sending  their  pay  to 

their  families,  295. 
Work   of   voluntary  associations 

for  them.  297-300. 
Constitutional  amendments,  367,  436, 

43  7. 

Crisis  of  1857,  31 
Crittenden  compromises,  184,  273. 

DAVIS,  JEFFERSON,  46.  65.  73,  364. 
Deming,  Henry  C.,  157, 181. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A . 

Debates  with  Lincoln,  54-59. 

Candidacy  in  I860,  59,  60. 

Opinion  of  Lincoln's  inaugural.llQ. 

Views  after  the  firing  on  Sumter. 
121. 

His  death,  157. 
Draft. 

First  suggestion  of,  250. 

Connetciout  escapes  it,  S55. 

Riots,  276-279. 

Volunteers  to  suppress  riots,  280. 
Dred  Scott  decision,  24,  25. 

EDDY,  REV.  HIRAM,  132. 
Election  (presidential). 

In  1860,  46.  47,  61. 

In  1864,  364. 

Election  frauds  in  Connecticut,  61,  53. 
Election  parade,  33. 
Emancipation. 

President  Lincoln's  attitude,  112. 

Development  of  feeling  for  it,  856. 

Lincoln's  plan  by  purchase,  256. 

The  proclamation,  264,  267. 
Eulogies  or    sketches    of    Governor 
Buckingham. 

I.  N.  Tarbox,  477. 

Noah  Porter,  475. 

Senator  Kerry,  480 

Senator  Frelinghuysen,  484. 

Senator  Stevenson,  485. 

Senator  Wright.  485. 

Senator  Bayard,  48G. 

Senator  Eaton,  487. 

Senator  Pratt,  488. 

Senator  Thurman,  489. 

Senator  Ho  we,  491. 

Senator  Morton,  492. 

Congressmen  Hawley,  Stark 
weather  and  Kellogg  of  Con 
necticut;  Wilson  of  Iowa, 
and  Potter  of  New  York,  493. 

FARRAGUT,  Admiral,  371,  374. 

Ferry,  Orris  S.,  134,  480. 

Field,  David  Dudley,  86. 

Financial  strength  of  the  North,  211. 

First  Connecticut  Cavalry,  198.  200. 

First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  193, 

195,  197,  201,  300. 

First  Connecticut  Light  Battery,  197. 
Fort  Fisher,  193.  370,378. 
Fort  Pickens,  203. 
Franklin,  William  B.,  244. 
Fremont,  John  C..  364. 
Fugitive  Slave  law,  23. 

GETTYSBURG  cemetery,dedication,  323. 


ALPHABETICAL     INDEX. 


535 


Governors  of  loyal  States. 

Their  services  during  the  war,  170, 

433. 

In  advance  of  the  general  govern 
ment,  190. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S. 

In  the  Mississippi  valley,  309. 
At  Chattanooga.  312. 
At  i he  held  ot  the  armies,  326. 
Plan  of  campaign,  327,  328,  329. 
On  waste  of  life  in  war,  328. 
Begins  advance  on  Richmond.  342. 
Campaign   after  the    Wilderness, 

378,  3T9 
Receives  surrender  of  Lee's  army, 

390-394. 
Magnanimity  of  his  treatment  of 

Lee's  army,  392,393. 
Greeley.  Horace. 

Examination    of      proposals    for 

peace,  363. 
Graybeard  regiment,  186. 

HAMPTON,  WADE.  395. 
Hawley,  Jo-'eph  R. 

Raised  first  company  of  volunteers 

in  Hart  ord,  133. 
Brevetted  m  jor  general.  292. 
Characterization     of       Governor 

Trumbull,  478. 
Home  Samuel  K 

First  Volunteer     in  Connecticut, 
132. 

JOHNSON,  ANDREW. 

Opponent  of  secession,  366. 

Nominated  as  vice-president,  366. 

Course  as  president.  437. 

Impeachment  proceedings,  437. 
Johnston.  Joseph  E.,  225,  227,  345,  349, 

376.  393. 
Johnston's  surrender,  terms  of,  400. 

KANSAS  outrages,  25,  26,  27. 
Kinney,  John  C.,  374,  510. 

LEBANON. 

A  typical  New  England  town,  4. 

Its  famous  school,  5. 

Its  influence  on  Governor  Buck 
ingham,  6. 

War  office,  6. 

The  town    characterized    by  Dr. 

Tar  box,  478. 
Lee,  Robert  E. 

His   Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
330. 

At  Petersburg,  381-386. 

Surrender  at  Appomattox,  388-393. 
Leech,  John. 

His  tribute  to  Lincoln  in  London 

Punch,  411. 

Lee's  surrender,  terms  of,  391. 
Lincoln,  Abraham. 

In  Connecticut  in  1860,  49, 166. 

Nomination  as  president,  54,  60. 

Debate  with  Douglas,  54-59. 

Election  in  1860.  61. 

Effect  of  his  election  in  the  South, 
67. 

Journey  to  Washington,  94-100. 

Inauguration,  101-107. 


Plot  to  assassinate  him  in  1861,93. 

Speeches  in  1861,    5-97. 

Farewell  address  to  his  townsmen, 
101. 

His  first  message,  105,  106. 

Cabinet  of  1861,109, 

His  views  when  he  became  presi 
dent,  112. 

Rising  to  the  greatness  of  the  oc 
casion.  161. 

Correspondence   with    McClellan, 
220,  234. 

Plan  for  freeing  the  slaves  by  pur 
chase.  256. 

Emancipation  proclamation,  264, 
267. 

Cost  of   slaves  and  cost  of  war 
compared.  258,  259. 

Interview  with   Governor    Buck 
ingham,  262. 

Expression  as   to   slavery  in  his 
secon  <  inaugural  message,  26t>. 

His  Christian  spirit,  321. 

Loss  of  his  son  323. 

Address  at  Gettysburg,  324. 

Conversation   with    Sherman    on 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  342. 

General  Sherman's  opinion  of  him, 
343. 

Nomination  in  1864,  365. 

Declaration  as  to  slavery,  367. 

Surrender     of    the     Confederate 
armit-s.  390,  406. 

His  assassination,  403-413. 

His  character,  406. 

Effect  of  the  assassination  on  the 
country,  407-411. 

John  Leech's  recognition  of  him  in 
Punch,  411. 

Lincoln's    assassination     (see    as 
sassination  of  Lincoln.) 
Louisiana  territory,  19  20. 
Lookout  Mountain,  316. 
Loyal   governors    (see   governors    of 

loyal  states.) 
Lyon,  Nathaniel,  302,  303.  304. 

MALVEBN  Hill,  221 
Maximilian  in  Mexico,  448-451. 
McClellan,  George  B. 

Commander  in  Chief,  215. 

Characterized.  215. 

Advance  on  Richmond  along  the 
Chick ahominy.  227. 

Retreat   to    Harrison's   Landing, 


Complaint  of  the  government,  234. 

Retirement   from  command   and 
from  the  army,  255. 

Nominated  for  president,  365. 
McCurdy,  Charles  <) .,  79. 
Mexican  Empire.  448-451. 
Mexican  war  unpopular,  23. 
Missionary  Ridge,  815. 
Mississippi  valley  cleared,  309. 
Missouri,    its   admission   as   a   slave 

state,  21. 

Missouri  compromise,  19,  21. 
Mobile  Bay,  371. 
Monitor. 

The  money  for  it  furnished  by  C.  S. 
Bushnell  of  New  Haven,  274. 


536 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


Monroe  Doctrine. 

Application  to  Mexico,  450. 
Its  English  origin,  450. 

NAVY  and  army  disorganized  at  the 

opening  of  the  war.  160. 
New  Orleans  under  Gen.  Butler,  182. 

PATRIOTISM  of  the  volunteers,  138. 

Peace  by  concession,  363. 

Peace  Convention,  78-92. 

Peace  meetings,  73,  78, 184,209,274,279. 

Peace  resolutions  at  Philadelphia,  75. 

Peace  Party. 

Condition  in  1864,  302 

Attempts  to  do  something  in  1864, 

363. 
Peninsular  campaign. 

General  account,  223-246. 

Delay  in  preparation,  219-222. 

Orders  as  to  the  city  of  Washing 
ton,  220 

Plans  of  attack  and  defense,  227, 
22S. 

Battles  of,  230,  232,  239,  240. 
Pennsylvania  reserve,  290. 
Perkins.  George  L.,  148. 
Petersburg  and  Richmond,  380. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  274. 
Port  Royal,  203. 
Presidential  campaign  of,  1860. 

Democratic  conventions,  46,  47,  60. 

Republican  convention,  47,  60. 

Constitutional  Union  convention, 
61. 

RECONSTRUCTION,  436. 
Reformation,  Battle  song  of  the,  320. 
Republican  party. 

Inception,  40. 

Gain  of  states  in  1859,  43. 

Gains  in  1864,  366. 
Richmond 

Condition    of    during   Peninsular 
campaign.  224. 

Visit  to  after  its  evacuation,  420, 


SANITARY  Commission,  297. 
Secession. 

Advocated  in  Congress.  46. 
History  to  the  time  of  the  war, 

63-73. 
Cabinet  officers  betrav  their  trnit, 

65. 

Governor  Gist's  message  of   No 
vember,  1860,  07. 
South  Carolina's  haste  to  lead  the 

movement,  68-72. 
Peace  conventions,  73-92. 
Buchanan's  position,  44,  64,  76. 
Rebellion  or  revolution,  77. 
At  tbe  time  of  Lincoln's  inaugu 
ration,  111. 

Trials  of  negotiation  and    diplo 
macy,  362-306. 
Collapse,  387-400. 
Sedgwick.  John,  304,  305,  332. 
Seward,  William  H.,  98,  109,  110,  207, 

208.248,363,405. 
Seymour,  Horatio,  76,  275,  273. 
Seymour,  Thomas  II.,  47. 


Shenandoah  Valley,  379 
Sheridan,  P.  H..  337-340. 
Sherman,  William  T. 

Meridian  expedition,  310. 

At  Chattanooga,  315. 

March  througn  Georgia,  342-359. 

Marching  North,  374. 

Arranging  -Tohnston's   surrender, 
394^100. 

His  error  in  this  matter,  399,  40C, 

402. 
Sixteenth    Connecticut    resiment    in 

Andersonville,  251,  252. 
Slavery. 

Its  history  before  the  war,  17-30. 

Early  understanding  that  it  should 
cease  at  last,  18. 

Virginia  and  tne  Northwest  Terri 
tory,  19. 

Extension  of  the  system,  19-28. 

How   its    supporters    made    war 
necessary,  28,  29. 

Governor  Buckingham's  declara 
tion  in  his  first  message.  35,  38. 

The  contest  from  1854  to  1860,  39. 

Heloer's  Impending  Crisis,  45. 

The  Lecompton  constitution,  56. 

Buchanan's    cabinet    divided   by 
slavery,  65. 

Conciliatory  attitude  of  the  North, 
73. 

Slaves  freed   under  the  common 
law,  85. 

Lincoln's  plaa  for  freedom  through 
purchase.  256-260. 

Emancipation  proclamation,  264. 

Cost  of  slaves  and  cost  of  war, 
258,  259. 

George  Bancroft  on  slavery,  261. 

Governor  Buckingbam'a  letter  to 
President  Lincoln.  262. 

B.     F.     Butler's     abhorrence    of 
slavery,  265. 

Lincoln   in   his   message  in  1865, 
266,  367. 

Constitutional    amendment,    367, 
436. 

W"orR  of  loyal  eovernors,  434. 

Bishop    Galloway    on    emancipa 
tion.  438. 

Smith,  Caleb  B..  109. 
Southern  empire,  Hope  of,  177. 
Stanton.  Edwin  M.,65. 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  357. 
Sutnter. 

Attack  on.  113-115. 

The  news  in  South  Carolina,  116. 

The  news  at  tbe  North,  118. 

TERRY,  ALFRED  H.,  180,  193. 
Thanksgiving,  First  national,  318. 
Tisdale,  N  athan,  5. 
Towns  offer   to   support  families  of 

soldiers,  133. 
Trent  affair,  2< '4-208. 
Trinity  College  volunteers,  137. 
Trowbridge,  Thomas  R.,  137. 
Trnmbull,  David,  5. 
Trumbull,  John,  5. 
Trumbull,  .Jonathan.  5. 
Trumbull,  Jonathan.  Jr.,  5. 
Trumbull,  Joseph,  5. 


ALPHABETICAL    INDP:X. 


537 


Trumbull  family,  478. 
Tyler,  Daniel,  188,  290. 
Tyler,  Robert  O.,  188. 

*'  UPRISING  of  a  great  people,"  160. 

VALLANDINGHAM,  273,  274. 
Volunteers. 

Unlimited  number  authorized,  180. 
Calls  for  new  levies,  122,  248,  307, 

326. 
Orders  of  Governor  Andrew  and 

Governor  Buckingham,  249. 
Vo'es  of,  362. 

WAR  Democrats,  156. 
War  meetings,  250. 
War  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  outbreak,  109-117. 

The  news  North  and  South,  116- 

Service  of  the  loyal  newspapers, 

First  call  for  troops,  122. 

Effects  of  treason  in  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  124-126. 

Connecticut's  answer  to  the  call 
for  troops,  128-153. 

Woman's  work,  141,  187. 

Popular  enthusiasm,  150. 

Action  of  the  Connecticut  legis 
lature,  156. 

Bull  Run,  172,  177. 

The  wonderful  response  to  calls 
for  volunteers,  186. 

Fort  Fisher,  193 

Review  of  the  situation  up  to  1862, 

Connecticut's  contribution  in  the 
first  year  of  the  war,  211. 


Peninsular  campaign,  323-246. 

A  turning  point,  270. 

Review  of  the  situation  to  July, 
1863,  276. 

Bounties,  283,  284. 

Summary  of  calls  for  troops,  28!5. 

Connecticut's  contribution  to  the 
army,  287. 

Condition  of  both  sides  in  July 
1863,  307,  308. 

Waste  of  life,  308,  309,  328. 

Recruiting  the  armies,  311. 

A  Question  of  endurance,  325. 

Situation  in  May,  1864,  326. 

Wilderness  campaign,  331-336. 

Losses  in  this  campaign,  341. 

Situation  at  the  beginning  of  1865, 
370. 

Lee's  surrender,  368-394. 

Johnston's  surrender,  394-400. 

Cost  of  the  war,  414. 

Number  of  men  in  the  field,  414. 

Disbanding  the  army,  415. 

Review  in  Washington,  415-418. 
Washington,  George,  6. 
Washington,  review  in  at  close  of  the 

war.  415-418. 

Waste  of  life  in  war,  328. 
Week  of  battles,  229. 
Welles,  Gideon,  109. 
Wesleyan  students  in  the  vrar,  137. 
Wideawake  clubs,  £0. 
Williams.  Rev.  Solomon,  4,  5. 
Wilmot  proviso,  22. 
Winsted's  prompt   action  to  furnish 
soldiers,  132. 

YALE  students  volunteer,  136 
Yorktown,  223. 


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MOV  22   1932 


•» 


"* 

28 

194-8 


939 


LD  21-50m-8,<32 


YC  51097 


250236 


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A 


